Inventing Miracles
by knicnort3
Summary: Bella joins a private medical research company and learns there's much more going on than meets the eye. Will she uncover the truth about the mysterious Cullen group, or will she die trying? - All Human, B/E, AU. FICTIONAL Medical Fantasy Drama. 21 Chapters
1. Staying Focused

**Chapter 1**

 **Staying Focused**

"Oh Bella I can't believe you're moving so far away," Angela said while hugging me tightly. I was never one for longwinded goodbyes, but for a reason I didn't understand, I was suddenly engulfed with choked up emotion.

"I've already been so far away," I replied with a forced smile.

"You know what I mean, Volterra is like, on the other side of the world."

"I know, but I'll write whenever I can," I promised. Angela and I had been best friends since I first moved to Washington to live with my dad when I was fifteen years old. Through my strenuous years of medical school, Angela was my only friend who didn't give up on our relationship due to my lack of contact. In fact, she was the only friend I had at all. I had thrown myself so deep into studies that I just didn't have time for fun, I didn't even have time to go home for holidays.

I hadn't been back home to Forks in two years, and when I did return after my residency, it was only a week later that I got the invitation to join a prestigious biomedical research group in Italy. It was everything I had been working for, and there was no way I'd pass on it.

I had decided to become a doctor and ultimately go into biomedical research, partly because of my mother. Over the years she had many different jobs in many different towns, but the first place that felt like home to us was when she got a job as an in-home nurse for the Masen's, a family in Arizona. She had a nursing license, but had never worked as a personal live-in nurse until then. She didn't make a ton of money because the family couldn't afford much, but they paid all our living expenses, and all Mom had to do was care for their severely disabled son.

When we first moved there, I absolutely hated it. I was ten years old and because of the condition of the boy, the house was set up more like a hospital than an actual home. I wasn't allowed to play inside and I was constantly being told to keep quiet. But after seeing my mother interact with him, I slowly began realizing that he wasn't just an empty shell. The boy's name was Teddy; he was two years older than me with the mental capability of a three year old, and unable to control any of his physical movements.

They said he had a unique, severe form of Cerebral Palsy, with additional mental disorders. They said he wouldn't live past the age of three, but they were wrong. He lived until he was sixteen years old, and my mother cared for him until his body could no longer support itself.

Teddy's parents moved him to a hospice where he lived his final months, and then he died peacefully surrounded by his family. Over the years I had spent with him, I learned so much about mental and physical illnesses, but more importantly, I learned about who he was on the inside. I learned what made him happy, and what upset him. I learned that regardless of his inability to communicate, he still had feelings and he deserved to be treated like a human being. Despite the pain of losing him, I knew I was a better person for have knowing him.

Although I greatly grieved his passing, Teddy's mother, Liza, was the one who helped me move past it. She told me - 'Behind the prison of his body, there was a real person who I wished I could find a way to set free, and now, he is.'

Liza's words helped me immensely, but my mother loved Teddy like her own son and wasn't able to grasp a handle of her grief. She started drinking to numb the pain, and after a while it got to be too much and she had to go away to get help. That's when I moved to Washington to live with my father, but I never gave up on my dream to try to do whatever I could to contribute to finding cures for the otherwise incurable, so that some day no more families would have to experience the pain that the Masen's, and my mother and I felt from Teddy's loss.

Throughout my training in the medical field, every test I took, and every long night of studying, I thought of my reason for being there. I felt like Teddy was there with me, guiding me and giving me strength to continue. He couldn't be saved, but if there was the smallest chance someone else could, I needed to do all I could to find the way.

"Well kiddo, I hope to get more phone calls than I had since you've been at medical school," my dad said as he came out to say goodbye.

"I know dad, I'll do better now that I have a real job," I said guiltily. Sometimes weeks would go by before I realized I hadn't called home in a while. It wasn't that I didn't care, but I was just so focused and busy that I simply lost track of time. It was no excuse, and I felt horrible about it.

"Well, you better, or I'll just have to connect with some of my Volterrian contacts to keep an eye on you," he said with a wink. My dad, Charlie Swan, was the police chief of our local town, but as a young naïve teen I had actually thought he had the same reach and capabilities as an FBI secret service agent with how connected to everyone and everything he always seemed to be. Of course when I grew up I realized his so called connections were mainly just a way to scare me into behaving while away from home. Since I became an adult, however, his threats had turned into nothing more than a long drawn out joke.

"I'll remember that, dad," I said with a grin.

"And don't let those Italians seduce you, I fully expect you to move back here when you have kids."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't hold your breath for that one," I said jokingly but completely serious. I didn't plan on living in Volterra forever, but I also didn't plan on having children either. I didn't have time to dedicate myself to being a mother, and I highly doubted I ever would.

I hugged my father and my best friend, and then went to the waiting car to head to the airport. I didn't know much about the group I was joining, only that they were privately funded by wealthy sponsors, which was the reason why I was being driven to the airport in a stylish Mercedes. All my expenses were paid, including the apartment I'd be living in. Only the best of the best were allowed to work at the Kolff Research Organization of Biomedical Engineering in Italy, so I was honored to get the chance and I was sure I'd stay there for years to come.

I was flown first class to Italy, where I was picked up in a Porsche by a Goliath of a man named Felix, and brought straight to the facility. He drove us down a long winding dirt road in the middle of nowhere, and then a large gated compound came into view. At the gate, there were two armed guards, which confused me, but I shrugged it off and waited anxiously for the car to stop. The guards nodded to Felix, and then let him pass.

"I'll bring your bags to your apartment," Felix said with his heavy accent after pulling up to a large square shaped building.

"Oh…okay, thanks," I said uncomfortably as I got out of the car. I had no idea where I was supposed to go next, and Felix didn't seem like he was going to help me any further, so I just stood there clueless for a moment and looked around. The stucco building in front of me was painted an unimposing shade of beige, but somehow still seemed colorful with its undetermined possibilities. I had such high hopes for my time there, but my biggest fear of the moment was being a disappointment, not only to the people of the organization, but to myself.

Apart from the building before me, there wasn't anything noteworthy about my current surroundings. Behind me was the gate we came in through, and it was attached to a large chain linked fence with barbed wire on top. There was a lawn on either side of the road, but looking forward again from where I was standing, I couldn't see beyond the shadow of the roof. For a brief moment, I saw the building as a dark ominous cloud looming over me, and I shivered from the thought. Thankfully, just as quickly as the thought came, it dissipated and I was able to regain control of my fears. I absolutely refused to be afraid; it was a wonderful opportunity, and there was nothing to concern myself with other than my own irrational insecurity.

"You must be Doctor Swan," a woman said as she walked out of the building to greet me.

"Yes, hello," I said relieved with a smile as I shook the woman's hand. It still sounded strange to hear the word 'doctor' in front of my name, but it was definitely strange in the best possible way.

"I'm your guide, Gianna Keller; I'm here to show you around," she said welcomingly. "Right this way." I watched as she swiped her ID card to open the door, and then I followed her inside. "You'll be issued a security pass as soon as the tour is over and you've been cleared from you inquisition."

"Inquisition?" I asked surprised. I had thought all of that was already handled, and I was confused as to why they would have more questions for me after I had already arrived there. What if I said something they didn't like? Could I still be rejected and sent home at that point? My nerves spiked.

She turned and smirked at me. "You'll understand soon enough."

A wave of discomfort washed over me, but I tried my best to ignore it. There was something off about the place and the thought of the building being ominous returned, but once again, I convinced myself that I was just being paranoid and fought to keep those negative feelings locked away.

As soon as we walked past the third clearance door, I finally started to feel at ease as Gianna showed me all the labs and work stations. She introduced me to the different doctors and technicians as we passed by, all of which were dressed in professional white lab coats and busy at work, but most still paused to smile a hello to me.

After seeing the labs, and meeting more people than I could remember, I was taken out the back door of the building to what looked like a recreational garden. From that point I could see just how big the compound actually was, with a multitude of beige stucco structures only distinguished by the different numbers on the front of them. As we continued to walk, I was led into another building to meet the figure heads of the company, which I came to understand was business section of the compound.

We came upon a door at the end of a long hallway, where Gianna knocked twice and then opened it slowly. Inside was a conference room with five people sitting around a large oval table, and all were staring at me expectantly.

"I'd like to introduce Doctor Isabella Swan," Gianna said to the room of three men in business suits, and two women with their hair pulled back way too tightly.

A youngish looking man with well groomed blonde hair smiled warmly. "Welcome. We are very pleased to have you join us. You've come with high recommendations from all your professors and the chief of staff where you were a resident."

"Thank you. I'm eager to begin work here," I said nervously.

"Very good. I'm Doctor Carlisle Cullen, this is Doctor Caius Aro, and that is Marcus Keller." The men nodded their greeting, and then Dr. Cullen continued. "Doctor Irina Denali, and Tanya Benson," he introduced the women in the room, who seemed snotty at best.

"Nice to meet all of you," I said politely.

Dr. Aro then stood to walk closer to me, and stared at me intensely as if he was trying to read my thoughts. "We here at Crow are like a family, built on trust, discretion, and classified work that you are not privileged to disclose to anyone outside this family for any reason. Do you understand?"

I nodded. "But, what's Crow?" I asked stupidly, and Gianna snickered.

"K.R.O.," he clarified. "Kolff Research Organization, of course."

"Right," I said feeling the rush of heat to my face as my embarrassment became far too apparent.

How the hell did I ever make it through medical school? – I thought to myself. Kolff was the name of one of the leading doctors of biomedical engineering; at least I knew that much.

"Everything you see and do here belongs to us," Dr. Aro continued. "You will need to sign a confidentiality agreement, and if you choose to leave, you are never allowed to repeat anything anywhere else. Do you understand?"

"Yes," I said too quietly. "Um, yes," I repeated louder. I already knew that since it was privately funded I wouldn't be able to take my work if I decided to leave. Any discoveries or innovations were property of KRO and we'd be accredited as a whole if the findings were ever released to the public. But I wasn't there to seek recognition for my work, so I didn't care about that. The opportunity to learn and work there with the best in the world was all that mattered to me.

I was explained a few other things, and I had to tell them more information about myself, and then I was grateful to be excused to get settled into my on site apartment. The residential area of the compound was just behind the mundane stucco buildings, and I was happy to see that the buildings where people lived weren't as plain as the work buildings. Each separate apartment structure was a different color; they were all organic hues, but still a refreshing change from the beige. I wasn't aware before arriving that the apartments were on the compound, but I guess it was better that way. I wouldn't need a car to get to and from work, and I would start as early and stay as late as I needed.

When I first entered my personal living space, I was pleasantly surprised. It was in no way big, but everything inside was top of the line, from flat screen TVs in the living room and bedroom, to a sleep number bed. The fridge was stocked with all my favorite food, which explained the questionnaire I filled out prior to flying to Italy. The closet was full of white lab coats and blue scrubs, plus three pairs of white tennis shoes in my size. But besides the items I would need for work, I noticed that all of my clothes from my suitcase had been pressed and hung or laid neatly in the drawers of the built in organizer. I wasn't quite sure how I felt about someone going through my personal belongings to put it all away, but there was nothing to be done about it, and there was no sense getting upset.

After looking around a bit more, I became anxious to get started right away, so I changed quickly and then headed back to the main building to figure out where I would be stationed. Gianna had left after showing me where my apartment was, but I was given my clearance tags so I should have been able to get through the doors, but for some reason my card wasn't working.

I swiped it, and swiped it again, but nothing. "Damn it!" I said a little too loudly. Was I seriously being a moron and missing something, or was there a bigger problem?

"Having trouble?" someone said from behind me. I turned around, and the air in my lungs was nearly knocked out of me from the sight of the beautiful man smirking at me. I had never seen someone so physically striking with intensely green eyes that shamed the most perfect emerald, which was a sharp contrast to his copper colored, perfectly kempt hair. He was clean shaven, so there was absolutely nothing obstructing the view of his flawless features, and I found myself completely lost as I took him all in.

I must have looked ridiculous as I stood there gawking at him silently, so I forced myself to close my gapping mouth, and tried not to sound like an idiot when I answered him.

"Uh, yeah, it's not working," I said while swiping my card again to show him what I meant.

He reached for my card and then looked at it for a moment, trying to analyze the problem. "You're new, I assume," he said without looking up at me.

"Yeah, today's my first day," I replied quietly, trying not to get fixated on the way his mouth moved when he spoke.

He nodded while handing the card back to me. "Yeah, these things take twenty four hours to activate."

"Why?" I asked confused.

"I guess they don't expect you to want to get to work the minute you get here," he explained with a smirk.

"What am I supposed to do then?"

He shrugged. "Well, if you're not jet lagged, there's a twenty four hour cafeteria, basketball court, gym, movie theater, bowling alley…"

"All here on the compound?" I asked surprised.

He nodded again with a smile. "Yeah, and they're all free. Didn't this get explained to you; who was your guide?"

"Gianna…something. I don't remember her last name."

"Ah, well that explains it. Gia doesn't have the best work ethic; she's only here because her father, Marcus, insisted." He leaned closer to me and held up his hand as if he was going to tell me a secret. "But don't mention that to her face," he laughed softly.

"Right," I said as I tried to contain my school girl grin. "They really don't want to give the employees much of a reason to leave the compound, do they?"

"Employees? What, didn't they give you the whole 'family' lecture?" he said with a hint of mockery.

"Oh, I got it, but I'm just not there yet," I said lightly.

"Don't hold your breath with that one," he said strangely. "I've been here for years and I still don't get the whole 'family' shit they spew." He paused to contemplate for a moment. "No, that's wrong. There's a few here that I've developed close relationships with, but not everyone like they want you to believe."

"Well, maybe you can give me some helpful hints as to who would be good company here," I said without thinking. What the hell was wrong with me? I wasn't there to flirt.

"I bet you'd get along with Alice Brandon. She's a little hard to take at first, but once you get past her overly vivacious front, she can be a great ear if you ever need someone to talk to."

"That's good to know," I said honestly. I already missed Angela, and although we hadn't spent much time together recently, it was always a relief that she was only a phone call away.

"Ok, well, it was good to meet you, Bella. I should be getting back to work," he said unexpectedly.

"How did you know my name is Bella?" I asked him.

"I looked at your ID, remember," he said with a wink.

"Yeah, but it says Isabella. How did you know I prefer to be called Bella?"

He pressed his lips, and then a strange expression crossed his face. "Well, Bella is short for Isabella."

"But I could have preferred to use my full name, or maybe a different nickname like Izzy or Belle," I rebutted before wondering to myself what the hell I was going on about.

"Well I suppose it was a lucky guess…." he said amused. "I think all the stress of traveling and the inquiries today are making you a little jumpy. Maybe it would be best for you to go rest…"

He seemed like he was going to say something else, but instead he shook his head slightly and then walked away. The whole thing was strange, and a little surreal, but I tried to put it out of my mind. I needed to concentrate on the reason why I was there, and try to forget about the beautiful man whose name I never learned.

I decided to walk the grounds for awhile and try to learn my way around, but the place was huge and I was in a real danger of getting lost. I did, however, find the cafeteria, which was perfect because I was starving and I wasn't sure how to get back to my apartment.

With it being late afternoon, there was no line to get food, so I walked right up and was surprised by the gourmet items available.

"What can I get for you, love?" a large woman with an Irish accent asked from behind the counter.

"Uh…I'll just have some of that," I said, pointing at the closest dish in front of me.

"Ah, Tikka Masala; excellent choice," she said as she scooped me up some.

"Thanks," I said as she handed me the plate. I carried my food to one of the many empty tables, and sat to eat.

"Oh my god, you must be Doctor Swan," a woman with a youthful southern accent said from behind me. I turned to her, smiled and nodded.

"Bella," I told her.

"I'm Jessica Stanley, I work in the cancer research department," she said, and then sat down next to me before pulling her long hair into a low ponytail. As she fixed her hair, I noticed a wavy dark lock of my own coming free from the messy bun I had tied it in during the trip from the airport, but I really didn't care enough to fix it.

"Hi, nice to meet you." I vaguely wondered how she knew my name, but quickly realized the woman was a gossip hound and probably knew all the comings and goings around there.

She started talking about mundane things, and despite her friendliness, I was really hoping that her break would end soon so she'd leave me alone. I didn't want to be rude, but I wasn't in the mood to socialize, especially with someone like Jessica, who seemed far more interested in everyone's personal business rather than focusing on their professional capabilities.

People started filing in slowly as the dinner period neared, and before I knew it, the cafeteria was full of various degrees of medical and scientific personnel.

When I was finished with my food, I got up to leave, but unfortunately Jessica decided to follow me.

"I'll give you a tour," she said, refusing to take no for an answer.

"Gianna already…"

"Oh, I'm sure she only showed you your workspace and apartment. She's like a tourist here, whereas I'm a local. I know all the hot spots."

"Um…ok," I said reluctantly. I didn't have any other plans to use as an excuse to get out of it, so I didn't seem to have much of a choice but to follow.

When she led me around, she not only pointed out where everything was, but she also continued giving me a rundown on all the social aspects as well, and suddenly I felt like I was in high school again. I never had a lot of friends growing up, and I stayed out of the popularity contest which most other's seemed consumed with, so I never expected to find myself in a situation like that once I graduated college. But there I was, absently listening to Jessica tell me who got who pregnant, and why it was a scandal.

As we continued to walk, I noticed a small group of people, dressed in the standard KRO work attire, coming towards us who everyone else seemed to go out of their way to walk around. The group of four didn't swerve for anyone, but they didn't have to either; some people even moved to the side of the walkway and stopped altogether in order to let them pass. They didn't greet anyone, or even look at people as they went, and no one tried to talk to them either. It was all very strange.

When we walked closer to them, Jessica also automatically moved to the side, but I decided to just continue walking straight because if I kept my current path, I should have been able to walk right through them without bumping anyone. Before I could pass through however, Jessica grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side.

"Are you nuts?" she hissed, and the odd group walked past uninterrupted.

"Why, who are they?" I asked her. I didn't want to hear any of her gossip, but we were all colleagues so I didn't understand why the hell everyone was acting like they were of royalty equivalence?

"Those are the Cullens," she said as if that was a thorough enough explanation.

"Cullens? As in Doctor Carlisle Cullen?" I asked to clarify.

"Exactly."

"So…they're all related?" I asked confused, and surprised that she wasn't drowning me with information about them without me having to ask.

"No. We just call them the Cullens because they're part of a strange exclusive group run by the doctor. I'm not sure how they were all picked or what exactly they do, but they definitely don't associate with anyone outside the group much."

"And people know better than to get in their way?" I asked condescendingly, still unsure why it was such a big deal that I was going to walk between them.

"The thing is, no one seems to really know what they do, and anytime anyone has ever gotten too close to figuring it out, that person sort of…disappears. Now, that's just hearsay, all I really know is that everyone stays away from them…But don't mention that I told you that to anyone," she said, suddenly becoming anxious.

I looked back towards the direction the Cullens had walked in and could still barely see them before they rounded the corner, and then they were out of sight. It was strange, but I shrugged it off and tried to forget about it.

Jessica continued with the tour, but when we got to the bowling alley, I balked.

"Come on, let's go in; it's the only place on the compound to get a good drink," Jessica encouraged.

"No, I'm not much of a bowler," I told her. "Is there like an ice cream shop, or something?" I semi-joked.

"Oh, come on! As a doctor you must know the importance of letting loose every once in awhile…as a stress relief, and all." Jessica proceeded to drag me inside, and I sighed but didn't put up too much of a fight. I had no plans of staying, but I hoped the less I resisted, the quicker she would let me leave.

Thankfully, she didn't intend on actually bowling; we just sat at the lounge overlooking the alley while she ordered herself a drink.

"They're free," she said with a grin, trying to convince me to order one as well.

"No, I'm actually really tired. It's been a long day, so I think I'm just going to head home for the night."

"No, we just got here," she whined.

"Maybe some other time," I told her with no desire to ever follow through.

But as I was about to get up to leave, suddenly there was a strange vibe in building. "What's going on?" I asked, though Jessica didn't look like she knew…or at least pretended not to.

Abruptly, three bowling lanes were cleared, seemingly mid-game, and in walked the mysterious Cullens.

"People have to just give up their lanes for them?" I asked surprised.

"They don't do this sort of thing often, so it's not like anyone's complaining," Jessica replied.

"So…you don't know anything about them at all?" I asked, unsure as to why I really cared. I thought the whole thing was ridiculous, but at the same time, there was also something very intriguing about the four of them.

"The sandy haired guy is Jasper Smith, and the brawny guy with the killer tan is Emmett McCarty," Jessica informed me in a hushed rush. I vaguely wondered how she knew their names if it was all so secretive, but it really didn't matter to me either way. "The blonde bombshell is Rosalie Hale," Jessica continued, "and the girl with pink streaks in her hair is Alice Brandon."

"Alice Brandon?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Oh, someone said we'd get along," I said quietly, talking to myself more than her.

"That's ridiculous! The Cullens don't talk to anyone but themselves. Who told you that?"

"Him," I said mechanically as the man who had explained my ID card earlier, joined their group.

"You must be confused, that's Edward Cullen. He's even more withdrawn then the rest of them."

"So, he's a member of the Cullen group too? I didn't see him walking with them before."

"Oh yeah, he's like the ringleader."

"What's his real last name?" I asked because she said 'Cullen' instead of something else.

"No, he really is Doctor Cullen's son, and he's a doctor here as well. He just only speaks to whoever he's working with at the moment, and keeps to the others in their group when he's not working."

"That's all so…odd," I said, mostly to myself. "And Doctor Cullen doesn't even look old enough to have an adult son."

"He's older than he looks….There are a lot of oddities around here. I'm convinced there's a secret lab somewhere here on the compound where they test fountain of youth drugs on themselves…or this is really Area 51 and they're all aliens," she joked, though she seemed pretty serious. "I've been here two years and I still have so many unanswered questions. They tell me to just keep to my work and forget about everything else, so that's what I do."

I bit my bottom lip and then looked back at Edward. My heart jumped when he returned my stare, so I immediately looked away again. I was confused and curious, but I had my priorities, and digging into secret sub groups of the company definitely wasn't amongst them.

I was legitimately exhausted after the long hectic day, and I wanted to get an early start on the labs the next morning, so I finally convinced Jessica to let me leave and then I went to my apartment for the rest of the night.

….

I had never been in such a strange place before, but I was still excited to be there and I spent the next few days trying to get into a work routine. I was in by seven AM, and didn't go back to my apartment until eight PM. I didn't work the entire time, but I worked as much as possible to keep myself busy, and I stayed clear of the social venues that the compound had to offer. I needed to remain focused, and that was exactly what I planned on doing. But even with all the focus in the world, at night when I was alone, I couldn't prevent my mind from undesirably wandering to the mysterious Edward Cullen…


	2. Stuck

**Chapter 2 – Stuck**

"So, how's it going?" Angela asked supportively one evening over my bedroom landline. For whatever reason, mobile devices of any kind weren't allowed on the compound, so it was like being stuck in the nineties, which was odd considering all the state of the art technology in the facility.

I had been in Volterra for three weeks, and it was the first time that I found a moment to call my best friend to catch up. I talked to my dad a few times, but I was busier than I had ever been in the past, and with the time difference, I just could never find the perfect time to call.

"It's awesome, more than I could ever hope for. I've just been really busy and concentrating on my work, so it still feels like I just got here. It's been a real whirlwind," I told her as enthusiastic as possible. It was the truth, of course, but a whirlwind was definitely and understatement. It was absolutely exhausting, and I was honestly loving every minute of it.

"Have you seen any of the Italian sights yet?" Angela asked.

"No, I haven't even been off the compound since I got here," I told her with an unintentional sigh of sheer tiredness.

"Wow, you're really that busy? Don't you ever get a day off?"

"Yeah, I guess I could if I wanted to, but it's different here. It's not like being an intern where you work as often and as hard as you can just to show off to the tending physician. Here, we work because we want to and it's hard to take a day off when you feel like you're on to something," I explained.

"So, are you onto anything?" she asked curiously.

"Well, I'm working in the genetics division, and man, Angela, I never believed some of these things were possible. Last week a doctor here discovered a link between…" A strange clicking sound reverberated through the receiver, followed by a subtle buzzing. "Hello?… Angela?" The line was dead.

It had been storming for the past few days, and as I looked out the window of my apartment I saw that the storm was getting worse, but the phone outage still surprised me. With all of the vital work happening on the compound, I would think they'd have multiple generators and back up systems for all their resources. I shrugged it off, and promised myself to try to call Angela back the next day.

I went to bed early that night instead of braving the weather to get more work done, though being inside made me anxious. My mind rarely left work because when I wasn't there, I was worried I'd be missing an important discovery. I wanted to be part of everything, so for me, nothing was worse than being idle.

The equipment and supplies available at KRO were astounding, the specialists were doing wondrous things, and I just felt so fortunate to be privy to them. But even with my brain working on overdrive, I still couldn't help the few precious hours of sleep I got, and during those hours, Edward Cullen still dominated my mind.

I hadn't seen him or any of the other Cullens since that first day, but there was just something about Edward that I couldn't seem to break my mind free from. Every night I'd dream of him. Most of the time they didn't make any sense; it was usually Edward in a bright grassy field that only brought out the green in his eyes that much more, and it was full of yellow colored wildflowers. He would smile at me and I would walk to him, but then he'd disappear before I could reach him. And every time I woke up I felt a wave of loneliness as I realized that the dream wasn't real. The emotions I had for him in my state of unconsciousness were curiously intense, and when I would awake, it almost felt like I had lost someone dear to me. I didn't understand it; I didn't even know him, and it certainly wasn't like me to get swept away with such things.

The moment I would get out of bed, I would do my best to forget the dreams and the feelings that accompanied them, and over the weeks I was sure I was succeeding at it. I kept Edward contained in my midnight fantasies, and the fact that I didn't see him around the compound made it almost feel like he only existed in my dreams, like as if he wasn't real.

I was grateful when the storm finally passed and next morning arrived with clear skies. Storms didn't bother me, but since I had to walk to my lab from my apartment, the rain was just a wet inconvenience. That day we were working with double-helix configurations, when I got an unusual visitor.

"Doctor Swan, Doctor Aro would like to speak to you," Gianna interrupted my work, taking me by surprise.

"Ooo-kay, sure," I said and covered my microscope to prevent the slides from getting contaminated. I removed my gloves, and then followed Gianna to the business headquarters.

"Ah, Doctor Swan, perfect timing," Dr. Aro said as I walked into the room. "You may leave us, Gia."

"Is there a problem?" I asked concerned that they were unhappy with the work I had been doing.

"I just wanted to remind you of our confidentiality agreement that you signed," he said unexpectedly.

"Uh…of course," I said confused.

"You are not at privilege to discuss anything that happens here, even if it seems innocent. Are we clear?"

"Sir, I don't know what…"

"It's a yes or no question, Doctor Swan," he said sternly.

"Ye-yes," I replied uncomfortably.

"That is all. You may leave," he dismissed me, and then he looked back down to his paperwork in front of him and began writing.

I stood there for a minute dumbfounded, but then he looked up and gestured for me to leave, so I slowly backed out and shut the door behind me.

I was bewildered at the meeting, but Jessica did say the place and the people were puzzling, so I left it alone. But after that strange encounter, things just started getting stranger. I began to notice an unimposing man practically everywhere I went. He didn't stand out, so it was possible that he had been there all along watching me because I was new, but the way he stared at me made me more than a little uncomfortable. He stood outside my lab, and when I went to the cafeteria, he was conveniently there as well. He even seemed to be pacing outside the restroom when I went inside.

But perhaps I was just being paranoid.

"What's with Dimitri?" Jessica asked at lunch a few days later.

"Who's Dimitri?"

"That guy who's been watching you like a fat man watches a baby eating a hotdog."

Perhaps I wasn't being paranoid after all.

"Huh?" I said, and couldn't help but laugh a little at Jessica's's comparison, but quickly became serious again when I realized that I wasn't the only one who noticed that I was being followed. "Who is he?"

"He's like the head of security around here," she explained.

"That little guy is the head of security?" I asked surprised. "I thought someone else would have that job."

"You mean someone more like Felix?" she guessed, thinking the same thing.

"Yeah."

"Well, believe it or not, Dimitri is like retired CIA and he specialized in espionage. Felix was just a big oaf that Dimitri brought here with him to use as intimidation."

"Intimidation for what? And why would they be following me?" I asked slightly freaked by the whole thing. I knew they were secretive, but it was way overboard for just keeping medical advances private.

"Remember Bella, don't ask, and they won't tell. Who knows what their issues are, all I care about is that I get my check every two weeks, and that I get to work with some of the smartest people in the industry. Despite the secrecy, having KRO on your résumé puts you at the top of the list for any job."

"Are you planning on leaving soon?" I asked her.

She shrugged. "I've been here for two years, and I've never been home since. I'll have to leave sooner or later, right?"

"You haven't been home in two years?" I asked incredulously.

"Every time I made plans to leave, some kind of crisis would come up and I'd have to work."

"So, they've been trying to keep you here?" I speculated.

"No, it was always just a coincidence. I never asked for a leave or vacation time, so how would they know to give me those assignments?"

"Did you ever mention your plans to anyone?" I asked considering a possibility that I really didn't want to believe.

"Just my family back home," she answered, clearly wondering where my trail of questions was leading.

"And you talked over the phone?" I assumed.

"Yeah. Bella, what are you getting at?"

"I think the phones are tapped," I whispered.

She raised her eyebrows.

"I mean, just think about it. Every time you wanted to leave, you couldn't. I was in the middle of a conversation with a friend back home, and my phone went dead; and the next morning I had a very strange conversation with Aro. Did your phone go dead during the storm?"

"No," she said quietly.

"They were listening to my call. No wonder why they don't allow mobile phones; they're harder to tap. UGH! I can't believe this. What do they think I'm going to do, tell someone about cell divisions?" I said angrily. I was so upset and felt like my privacy was completely taken from me. It was ridiculous, and I would not put up with it.

"Where are you going?" Jessica asked as I stood and threw my food away.

"I'm going to talk to Aro and demand that they stop with the phone tapping."

"Oh, no you're not," Jessica said while grabbing my arm.

"Why not? You can't tell me you're ok with them listening to all our phone conversations?"

"No. But I mean, we knew what we were getting ourselves into here. They're not listening to personal stuff; they're just making sure we're not talking about our projects. What were you talking about when your phone cut out?"

"Uh…" I thought about it for a moment. "I was telling my friend how someone here discovered a link… Okay, I guess I shouldn't have said anything. But Angela works in a bank, it's not like she's going to repeat that information to anyone."

"That's beside the point," Jessica argued. "You signed an agreement…"

"Yes, but I never signed an agreement to have my conversations listened to. That's a violation of my rights to privacy."

"You don't have any rights to privacy," Jessica said strongly. "We all signed away our rights when we put our name on the dotted line. That's just the way it is. If you go to Aro then everything will just get bad for you," she said unexpectedly, and then without another word, she got up and left.

My conversation with Jessica just added to the peculiarity of the place, and I just didn't know what to do. Was Jessica right, was the phone tapping not so bad? I hated that I even considered the idea of letting it go, but when I thought about the alternative, I knew that letting it go was exactly what I was going to do. If I complained, if I even tried to talk to Aro about it, I was sure I would be fired and never welcomed back. Even though I had only been there for three weeks, I already couldn't imagine abandoning my work. I needed to see it through, so I just had to know that none of my conversations would be private until I left.

Even though I decided to not make a fuss about the lack of privacy, that didn't mean I was happy about it. I was angry all the time, and it started affecting my work. Over the next week, I broke two microscopes, and did one of the worst things a person can do in research…I mixed up slides.

Every day my resentment for the place grew, and I found myself actually taking time away from the labs. I just felt like I was putting all my efforts into something completely different than what I thought it was. I expected to have to keep some secrets, but I really thought that once I was in, they would tell me exactly what was really was going on; secrets from outsiders, not from the people who worked there. What was the point to all that 'family' talk, if they didn't trust us?

The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. I needed a break before I exploded, so I decided to take the day off to clear my head.

….

"And where do you plan on being for the day?" the man at the gate asked me as I tried to leave.

"I'm in a foreign country, I want to go sightseeing and eat some authentic Italian food," I said a little bitterly.

"One moment," the man said and grabbed my ID out of my hand, and put a phone up to his ear. "Yeah, I have a 10-84 here…..uh huh….right, Isabella Swan, genetics division…right…Of course, Sir." The man hung up the phone and handed me back my ID. "I'm sorry Ma'am; there is no clearance for excursions today."

"Excuse me?" I said irately. "I am not a prisoner here. If I want to leave, I have every right to go."

"Not today, Ma'am. If you want to leave the compound, you'll need to fill out a request form twenty four hours in advance."

"No one told me that," I argued.

"It's in the handbook," he stated.

I read the handbook before accepting the job, but I certainly didn't read anything about getting permission to leave, but it was obvious that the guy wasn't going to yield.

"This is ridiculous!" I shouted and turned around to go confront the higher ups. I stormed into the business building, and I didn't even care about Jessica's warning. At that point, I'd rather be fired than live like a prisoner.

"Uh, can I help you?" Gianna said from behind her desk as I passed her. But I didn't stop; I just continued on to Aro's office and barged through the door.

Aro was on the phone, but looked up at me and then hung up. "Well, this is uncouth."

"I'm sorry….No wait, I'm not sorry. I am not your prisoner, and I will not be held against my will!"

"Don't you have spunk," Aro said with a disturbing smile. "I admire that Doctor Swan, but I assure you, no one is a prisoner here. The reason why we have the protocol to request leave twenty four hours in advance is because we are very far from any town. We are nowhere near a tourist spot, so in order to get a car out here for you for the entire day, it takes time."

I just stared at him, trying to figure out how much I believed. I wanted to believe, because I really loved my work, but between that and the…. "What about the phone tapping?" I asked him.

He smiled again. "I'm sorry my dear, I have no idea what you're talking about. We would never tap the phones in your personal apartment. And why would we need to? We did just have a conversation about confidentiality, didn't we?"

"Yes."

"Well, then there would be no reason to tap the phones, and unless you were discussing something you shouldn't have been, then there is no reason to suspect that we would tap a phone. Isn't that right? You know, Doctor Swan, breaking our contract by divulging our findings would result in your medical license being taken away and possible jail time. But good thing for both of us that you didn't mention anything you shouldn't to an outsider, and we didn't tap the phones."

I shook my head slightly at the subtle threat. I knew the phone was tapped, and he knew that I knew, but there really wasn't anything I could do about it. If he admitted it, then he would have proof that I was discussing something I shouldn't have, thus I would lose my license. I worked too hard for that. I could handle being fired from KRO, but not losing my ability to practice medicine.

"So we have an understanding, I assume?"

I glared at him, and he smirked back smugly. "Yes, we have an understanding," I said grudgingly.

I hated saying it, and I was disappointed with myself the moment the words came out of my mouth. But regardless of my feelings, I was up against a brick wall so I left with my tail between my legs, so to speak.

Without being able to leave the compound, I decided to try to work off some steam at the gym. I was never really into working out, but I had to do something. I put on some sweats and started with the treadmill, but that just made me feel worse. I felt like a pathetic hamster running on a stationary wheel locked in a cage.

After five minutes, I was done. I decided to skip the locker room showers and just head back to my apartment, but on my way, I saw something that stopped me dead in my tracks. I was walking past the basketball court, and there he was, Edward Cullen, shooting hoops alone. It was in the middle of the day and most people were working, so there was no one else around.

I peeked out from around a corner, and just watched him for awhile, completely mesmerized by the perfection that was his body.

He was wearing some loose sweats and a white tank, which clung to his sun kissed skin, and he was dripping with sweat; it was absolutely stunning. The tank he had on left little to the imagination when it came to his chest and arms, and I realized he was much more perfect than I ever imagined. He was muscular, but lean and not overly built. His hair was wild, which made him look completely different than how I saw him before, so much so that I almost didn't recognize him. But there was no mistaking his beautifully structured face.

When he moved out of view, I absently took a step forward to get a better look, and then I abruptly tripped on a rock, forcing myself to get reacquainted with the ground.

Stupid clumsy two left feet.

Edward looked over from the commotion that my fall caused, and to show his beauty went beyond skin deep, of course he ran gallantly to my rescue.

"Are you ok?" he asked as he helped me up. "That looked like it hurt."

The touch of his hand on my arm was like a magnetic surge running throughout every nerve in my body, and I was instantly furious with myself. I was convinced that the effect he had on me was only in my evening imagination, but the fact that the feeling was even stronger in life, just made me resent the entire situation. I didn't want to feel that way, and I needed to do whatever possible to bury it.

"Nothing hurts….except maybe my ego," I replied jokingly but perfectly serious.

He laughed through his nose. "Don't worry about it, no one saw you fall except me."

Wonderful.

"So, I haven't seen you around at all," I said after brushing myself off and trying to recollect my self-respect.

He shrugged. "It's a big place. Are you all settled in?"

"I guess. It's just all hard to get used to…You know, being so far from home and everything."

He nodded. "It gets easier though. You just have to make sure that you take time to relax. If all you do is work, then you're going to drive yourself absolutely insane." I sighed, so he smiled. "I know, it's difficult. You fly half way around the world to try to accomplish something you thought you couldn't do anywhere else, but the truth is, you're just going to get so burned out that you end up hating everything about medicine and science."

"I assume you speak from experience?" I said to him.

"I know what it's like to feel trapped, and trust me, life doesn't wait. Before you know it, your life will be over and you'll look back and realize that there was so much you missed out on."

"You sound like my dad," I said with a smile.

"Smart man," he chuckled.

"Him, or you?" I asked.

"Both, of course."

"Right. Well, I should be…going," I said reluctantly. I wasn't leaving because I wanted to, but because I was worried about embarrassing myself even further. In fact, there was little I wanted more at that moment than to stay and talk to him longer, but I was sure I'd end up humiliating myself even more than I already had.

"Back to work already?"

"No, I think I'm taking the rest of the day off."

He raised his eyebrow. "Really? Wow, that's a first."

"And how would you know that?" I asked, suddenly suspicious. "This is only the second time we've ever spoken, and I haven't seen you since my first day here."

"This compound is like a small town. People talk."

"Oh, really? Nice." I said sarcastically unsurprised. I already knew people there talked, but I did wonder what kind of crap people had been saying about me. Though, the topic of gossip did raise a question. "But people don't talk about you?"

"What do you mean?" he asked confused.

"You and the other 'Cullens'. It's like people are almost afraid to mention your names." I had no idea what possessed me to question him on his reclusiveness, but for some strange reason, dreams aside, I felt comfortable with him.

"Well, people just think we're here because of my father."

"Are you?"

He pressed his lips and nodded. "Pretty much." We both laughed lightly, but then he became serious again. "I came here with him several years ago and just fell in love with medicine, so I got my license and stayed. The others….well …we all have our own reasons for being here," he said vaguely. "I think everyone here has the same goal."

"And what's that?" I asked curious as to what his personal goal was.

"To witness a miracle."

I didn't mean to do it, but I laughed despite his sincerity.

"What, you don't believe in miracles?" he assumed due to my reaction.

"No," I stated without hesitation.

"Why not?"

"We work in medicine. If we find a cure for something, it's a scientific breakthrough, not a miracle," I told him, though I wasn't sure if I believed what I was saying or not. The truth was, I had no idea what my personal beliefs were anymore. I wanted to think pure souls like Teddy would go on to a better place after they passed, but I just didn't know. I needed some kind of hard evidence otherwise I'd always have my doubts.

Edward bent down to grab the basketball at his feet, before standing again and looking back at me mischievously. "Well, even science could use some help sometimes." He tossed the ball to me lightly. "Can you use your math skills to calculate the perfect angle and exertion to get the ball into the hoop?"

I giggled. "No, can you?"

"Sure. Sports are all about math."

"Yeah right, you'd have to be a genius to figure that out."

"Give it a try, see what you can do," he said while gesturing towards the hoop.

I bounced the ball and dribbled it closer to the hoop, but as the ball rolled off my fingertips, I already knew it was hopeless….and I missed by a long shot.

"Wow! I have never seen such a poor display of shooting before in my life," he teased.

"Hey, give me a break. I'm a book dweeb, I never had time for sports," I defended myself playfully.

"Well, it's never too late, you know." He chased after the ball, and then threw it back at me. "Try again."

I tried again, and again I missed. "See? It's useless."

"Maybe instead of shooting it, you can just try to take it from me," he taunted me while bouncing the ball from hand to hand.

"Oh, that I can do," I said confidently.

"Well, do it then," he goaded.

I reached out to get it, but he was fast and turned around me before I could make contact.

"Oh, I see. We're playing for real," I said, getting determined and letting my competitive side break out...

"Always."

I'd take a step forward, and he'd take a step back, all the while continuing to dribble the ball. I ran forward, and he'd twist around relentlessly like he was playing for the NBA. Before I knew it, I was sweating all over the place, and I wasn't even embarrassed. I refused to stop until I got the damn ball away from him.

But then I fell again.

"Oh shit, are you ok?" he asked concerned. He kneeled down to check me for injuries, and I smiled to myself knowing I had him right where I wanted him.

"Yeah, fine," I said and grabbed the ball from him, and ran to the other side of the court. "Ha! Got it."

"Oh, that's cheating," he said with his own determined expression plastered on his face.

"Come on then, let's see what you got?" I provoked.

"You're going to be sorry," he joked and then ran to me. I ran away from him without dribbling, but he didn't cry foul, he just continued the chase. I got right under the hoop and threw as hard as I could. It bounced against the backboard, and then slid into the hoop.

I looked at Edward with my brows raised and a disturbing grin on my face, completely stunned by impossibility of my shot.

He smiled widely. "See? Miracles do exist."


	3. Zipping Through Monotony

**Chapter 3 – Zipping Through Monotony~**

"YES!" I shouted. "Yes, yes, yes, yes," I continued to gloat as I danced around the hoop.

"Wow, it doesn't take much to make you happy," Edward teased.

"Maybe you're right. Miracles must exist, because that's the only way that ball made it in," I admitted.

He laughed, and the look on his face, plus the cadence of his chuckle, made the whole compound seem like a better place. Before playing with him I had convinced myself that the glory I held him in was just a fabrication of my imagination, but it wasn't. The Edward that lived in my fantasy couldn't even do him justice; he was absolutely perfect.

I had never been the type to get infatuated with guys. I had a few boyfriends along the way, but no one who really got to me. I always preferred time to myself in a hot bath over the company of the subpar men I hooked up with over the years. But just the sight of the sweat dripping off the man in front of me, made me want him like I never wanted any other before.

But the thought of him all sweaty reminded me of the fact that I was probably just as bad, and I suddenly became horrified. The last thing I wanted was to stink in front of him.

"I should go hit the shower," I said grudgingly. I hadn't seen him in weeks, and I was worried I'd go another expansion of time without seeing him again, so I really didn't want to leave.

He nodded. "Yeah, me too. Thanks for playing with me; it was a lot of fun."

"Yeah, we should do it again soon," I said eagerly like a desperate idiot.

"Sure. I'll see you around," he replied and shot me a parting smile that made my heart palpitate, before turning and walking away.

 _God, he is beautiful. A man like that just doesn't exist in nature. Maybe he is the result a scientific experiment_ – I thought to myself with a giggle as I walked to my apartment.

Despite my growing resentment for KRO, suddenly I couldn't imagine leaving again, and it had nothing to do with the work. How could I be feeling so strongly for a man I hardly knew?

I spent the next few days just going through the motions of my work. I put on my lab coat, and looked in the microscope, and did everything a good loyal KRO doctor would do, but my heart just wasn't in it anymore.

"Oh come on, the meatloaf isn't that bad," Jessica said at lunch one day. Since my first day there, I had managed to stay away from social gathering areas like the bowling alley, but I couldn't avoid the cafeteria, and that was where Jessica always found me and bombarded with undesirable bouts of friendly conversation. I didn't really dislike her, but with my current mood I would just rather be alone.

"Huh? What? Oh, no it's good. I guess I'm just not hungry." I had been sitting there in a daze, just moving my food around my plate without even eating, and didn't even realize it.

"What's with you lately? You've been completely out of it," Jessica said full of attitude.

"I just….I think I'm a little burned out from the work, that's all," I told her, which was the truth and a lie at the same time. I was burned out, but it wasn't about the work.

Jessica rolled her eyes, and then something caught her attention behind me, so I turned to see what she was looking at.

"Hi, I'm Alice Brandon," a bubbly woman with purple streaks in her hair said with a grin. I knew she was Alice because Jessica had pointed her out to me that first day, but I had never spoken to her before, and the last time I saw her, her streaks were pink, which I thought was kind of funny. She was definitely spunky.

"Hi, I'm Bella, nice to meet you," I introduced myself.

"Can I sit with you for a minute?" Alice asked.

"Sure," I said with a smile. Jessica was just staring at Alice with an open mouth, so I kicked her under the table.

"Ow," she said bitterly. Alice looked at her questionably, but seemed to let it go.

"So, we're going out this weekend, and I heard what happened to you a few days ago, so I was wondering if you wanted to come with us?" Alice asked unexpectedly.

"You heard what happened to me?" I questioned, not really sure what she meant.

"You know, the whole lock down - not allowed to leave thing," she explained. I stared at her surprised, so she raised her shoulders sheepishly. "This place is like a small town, people talk," she said, repeating the same thing Edward had said to me a few days before.

I nodded. "So, where are you going?"

"Out," she said as if she didn't understand my question.

"Okay. I'm in," I said not really caring where she was going, or with who. I assumed that when she said 'we're going out', she meant her and the other Cullens, because they only ever seemed to hang out with each other, so I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited. Not only would I get to spend more time with Edward, but perhaps hanging with them would allow me some insight as to what the mystery was.

"Can I come too?" Jessica asked Alice.

"Uh…I'm sorry, but there aren't enough seats in the van we rented for any more," Alice said quickly.

"Oh…ok, maybe next time then," Jess said disappointedly.

"Yeah, maybe," Alice replied in a seemingly false friendly tone. I didn't know Alice at all to make any assumptions on her feelings, but she definitely seemed to dislike Jessica for some reason.

"I'll pick you up at your apartment on Saturday around nine A.M., ok?" Alice asked me.

"Sounds great," I said sincerely.

Alice smiled, and then danced off to wherever she came from. I could tell that Edward was right about her, she was sweet, and I couldn't wait to get to know her better.

The week seemed to dredge on, and Saturday seemed so far away. It was odd that I never saw any of the Cullens around anymore, except for Alice briefly in the cafeteria, and of course Edward on the basketball court, but I never saw any of the others. I wondered if our schedules were just different, or if there was some other reason why our paths never crossed and they were never together in the cafeteria anymore.

…

Finally Saturday morning came, so I showered quickly and got ready. Since I didn't know what we were doing, I had no idea how to dress, so I went simple with a pair of jeans and a blouse. And then, the doorbell rang.

"Hi, are you ready?" Alice said with a huge smile.

"Sure. I, uh, wasn't sure how to dress, so…" I gestured to my clothes, silently asking if they were ok.

"Oh, don't worry about it, anything is fine," she said casually. I looked at her outfit and felt better because she was dressed in jeans and a casual button down top.

We walked to the gate of the compound, and saw a black Cadillac Escalade waiting there with the back passenger side door open.

"I thought you said a van was taking us?" I asked Alice as we walked closer to the SUV.

"I guess not," she said lightly. She climbed inside, but I hesitated when it was my turn. I suddenly felt shy and uncertain of myself. My lack of social skills was about to ruin my chances of figuring out the mystery of the Cullen's, and that mystery would surely drive me insane if left unsolved.

"Are you coming, or what?" Alice asked after sticking her head out the door.

"Yeah, sorry," I said, and then slid in the car next to her.

"That's Emmett, and next to him is Rosalie," Alice said, pointing to the two people in the far back seat. "This is Jasper," she touched the guy's leg who was sitting on the other side of her. "And you already know Edward," she said with an odd wink. Edward was sitting in the front passenger seat, and I would be traveling in the one directly behind him, which made my heart flutter in a way that I seriously wished it wouldn't.

Everyone except the formally dressed driver stared at me expectantly.

"Uh…hi," I said feeling like a moron.

"Who are you?" Emmett asked suspiciously.

"Uh, Bella Swan," I said jittery, wondering why Alice neglected to tell them my name during her introductions.

Rosalie narrowed her eyes at me, Jasper stayed quiet and expressionless, but Emmett's stern face stretched out into a huge grin. "Oh, so you're Bella."

"Yeah, last time I checked," I said with an uncomfortable giggle, not understanding his amusement. Had they been talking about me? I didn't know if I was happy about that possibility, or mortified.

"Emmett don't be such a Neanderthal! I told you she was coming with us," Alice said frustrated.

"I know," was all Emmett said back.

I looked forward and unexpectedly locked eyes with Edward. He smirked, so I smiled and blushed as a response.

"Looking for miracles?" Edward asked quietly.

"No, just looking for a way to release some tension," I replied.

"Well, Ed can definitely help you with that," Emmett said with a somewhat raunchy undertone. Edward glared at him, and by the sound of it, Rosalie hit him. "What?" I heard him ask quietly, but I refused to turn around to look at him. I was embarrassed enough and I didn't want to give Emmett the satisfaction of knowing he got to me.

The car started moving, and then we were off. We were all pretty much silent as we drove through the Volterrian country side, just taking in the majestic sights all around us. Italy was beyond beautiful. We passed sprawling meadows and miles upon miles of rolling hills. It was heaven on earth.

"So, where are we going?" I asked after a while.

"Oh no, we never tell," Alice replied, which confused me.

"Huh?" I asked.

"We take turns picking the activity," Jasper explained. "Whose ever turn it is, gets to pick where we go and what we do, but it's always a surprise."

"So, whose turn is it today?" I asked curiously.

Jasper grinned and pointed to Edward.

"Really?" I said with quiet excitement. I was going to be able to learn a little about the Cullens, as well as what Edward liked to do for fun. I couldn't imagine a better outing than that.

We drove for another hour and a half, all the while the Cullens laughed and teased each other like a normal family would. I didn't see anything strange or off about them, and wondered what all the fuss was about.

"Ah shit, what the hell are we doing in a fucking forest, Ed?" Emmett said annoyed as he noticed we had entered a wooded area.

"Hey, no complaining!" Edward scolded him.

"This is Europe man, there are a million things we could do other than being in with the damn trees. I swear to god, if you make us do some freaking tree hugging thing, I'll never forgive you," Emmett warned.

Edward laughed. "I'm shaking, bro. How would I ever go on without your forgiveness?" he joked.

"Whatever. It just better be worth this hella long drive."

After driving a ways into the trees, we finally came to a stop. A man greeted us with a huge welcoming smile. "Are we ready?" he asked in a heavy accent.

"Ready for what?" Rosalie asked concerned.

"For the zip line, of course," the man told her.

"Zip line? Awesome!" Jasper said eagerly.

"Ok, you're off the hook, this is pretty cool," Emmett agreed with Jasper.

"You're just lucky I tied my hair back today," Rosalie said with a mix of excitement and frustration.

"Oh, can I go first?" Alice pleaded.

"Sure, let's get you suited up," the man said, and pulled her to the side to put a harness on her.

We all watched Alice scale the ladder up a tree, and then hook herself up to the zip line. She screamed with delight as she flew through the air, and we all laughed and clapped.

"Who's next?" the man asked.

"I'll go," Rosalie said hesitantly. When she got up there however, she responded exactly the way Alice had. Exhilarated enthusiasm.

"Ok, we'll do all the ladies first," the man said and gestured for me to come closer to him.

"Uh….no thanks. I'll just watch," I said horrified from the thought.

"Ah no, you have to go. It's the rule," Emmett tried to convince me.

"No really. I'm terrified of heights," I said while taking a step back and waving my hand in front of me.

"Come on, life's too short to be scared of senseless stuff like heights," Jasper told me encouragingly.

"I just can't," I said, refusing to budge. "I'd love to watch though. Just go ahead."

The four men stared at me silently for a moment, and then Jasper sighed. "Ok Emmett, she's not going to change her mind. Go ahead."

Emmett shook his head at me disappointedly, and then went with the man who had the harnesses. "Woo-hoo!" he yelled as he flew through the air.

"You wanna go next?" Jasper asked Edward.

"Nah, go ahead," he said and gestured towards the man waiting.

"Cool. See you on the other side, bro."

Edward waved at him once, and then turned to me. "You know, it looks like a lot of fun," he urged.

I smiled and shook my head. "There's no way," I assured him.

"Hold on a minute," he said and then ran over to the man who was waiting by the tree. He spoke to him for a few minutes, and then he slipped on a harness before walking back to me. "Ok, get in."

"Excuse me?" I asked confused.

"It's a double. We'll go together."

I laughed and then bit my bottom lip. The thought of being strapped to him was almost too good to pass up, but I was still terrified.

"Can it even hold both of us at the same time?" I asked, reaching for anything I could to get out of it.

"Are you kidding? You did just see Emmett go, right? He weighs more than the rest of us combined," Edward joked.

I bit my bottom lip again, and shook my head. "I don't think I can," I said but my determination was definitely faltering, and Edward knew it.

"Oh, come on. Get out of the lab and into the real world," he said tauntingly.

"And zip lining is the real world?" I challenged.

He shrugged. "It beats staring in a microscope all day. Look, if you're not going, then neither am I."

"This is your pick," I argued.

He nodded. "Yeah, and I was really looking forward to it. Are you really going to make me miss it?"

"Oh, you don't play fair," I said with a horrified grin.

"Right, and the way you faked falling just to get the ball away from me was fair?"

"Ok, you have me there," I admitted my cheating. I took a deep breath and looked up at the extremely long line above us. "Alright," I said reluctantly. "Let's do this before I lose my nerve."

He smiled triumphantly and then held out my side of the harness.

"You may want to wait and do that after you get up there," the man suggested. "Might be kind of hard to climb to the top if you're strapped together."

"Right," Edward agreed. "Being a doctor, you would think I'd know that. Here, why don't you wear it up, that way you won't have to do anything but stand there while I put on my part?"

"Ok," I agreed thinking it was a good idea. There was a ninety nine point nine percent chance that once I got up there I'd be frozen with fear, so it was better that he was the one having to move around to get hooked up.

I put on my helmet, got fitted with the harness, and then we painstakingly climbed the ladder to the top of the tree. I stood on the platform, and clung to a tree branch for dear life. I couldn't even watch while Edward was strapped to me, although I was sure it was a beautiful sight. With my eyes squeezed shut, I felt the jerky rough hands of the man linking us together, but then I felt Edward's soft gentle touch as he rubbed my arms trying to soothe me.

"If you really want to get down, we can," he whispered.

I opened my eyes then, and his face was so close to mine that I completely forgot where we were. I didn't want to go down the zip line, but I didn't want to be detached from Edward more.

"No, I'll be fine. Just hold onto me, Okay?"

He smiled. "I promise, I won't let go," he said and wrapped his arms around me tightly.

The man checked all our attachments to make sure we were secure, and then he counted down. "Three, two, one," and the next thing I knew, the wind was whipping through my hair as we zoomed through the sky. Edward's arms stayed securely around me, and surprisingly, I wasn't afraid. It was the single most thrilling experience of my life thus far, and I watched with wide eyes as we flew over the trees.

I was positive that if I wasn't attached to the most beautiful man in the world, I would have cried hysterically until it was over, but he made me feel safe. The stuff he had been trying to tell me about living to the fullest actually made sense. It was exciting and an adrenalin rush that was beyond anything I ever experienced before. But I still held on to Edward as if my life depended on it.

"Well, holy shit!" Emmett said as soon as Edward and I landed on the other side. "I really didn't think you had enough guts to go through with it," he said to me.

"I was persuaded," I stated while looking at Edward.

"Yeah, once he bats those emeralds, there's no refusing," Emmett said while poking Edward in the cheek. Edward smacked Emmett's hand away, but they both had smiles on their faces.

"Ok, ready for the next one?" a different worker asked us.

"Huh?" I asked worriedly. I made it through one, but I had no idea if I could do any more.

"It's a circuit. There are ten in all," the man explained.

"Radical!" Emmett said excitedly.

"Let's do it!" Jasper shouted with a clap.

"I'm still first," Alice announced.

Two hours and nine zip lines later, we were finally finished, as was my fear of heights. It was amazing being above the trees, like a whole other world that I never knew existed before. Not only did I get to spend that time stuck to Edward, but it was an experience I would never forget for the rest of my life.

On the way home, we all changed seats. Emmett hadn't realized before that the trip would be so long and he didn't know how difficult it would be to have his large legs scrunched up in the far back, so he ended up sitting in the front seat. Rosalie and Alice sat in the far back, and I sat between Edward and Jasper in the middle row. Like a bunch of children after a long day, they all fell asleep during the ride home - all except Edward and me.

"I can't believe I actually did that," I said quietly so I wouldn't wake anyone.

"I really didn't think I'd be able to convince you," Edward responded with a soft chuckle.

"You could probably convince me of anything," I said without thinking. Then a sudden rush of heat flooded my cheeks as I realized what just came out of my mouth. "I mean….you're a smooth talker and would probably be good at selling cars," I said, embarrassing myself even further. "I mean…."

"It's ok, I got it," he said with another laugh.

"So, do you guys do this often?" I asked him.

"Yeah, every other Saturday we try to escape the compound. In two weeks it's Emmett's turn to pick our activity, so be ready for that," he said, subtly inviting me to go with them.

"Can't wait," I replied honestly with a wide grin.

When we got back, I said goodbye and went back to my apartment thinking I'd see them again the next day at work, but once again, they didn't seem to be around anywhere. I didn't see them in any of the labs, or the cafeteria, I didn't even see them walking around. It was odd, like they were part of a secret division that required them to work in a different area. I even went as far as asking a few people if they knew how I could reach any of the Cullen's, and they'd look at me like I was nuts. The Cullens didn't associate with anyone other than themselves, so they couldn't understand why I was asking about them.

A week passed, and I spent most of my free time thinking about Edward, though I did try my damnedest to recommit myself to my work. At least if I dove back into my labs I wouldn't be able to think about him so much.

Since I was there for a month, I had the option to rotate into a new lab group, which I decided to do. Everyone at KRO had their specialties; some were in genetics like me, and some were disease prevention, and so on. Within those specialty divisions, there were different lab groups who were strategically placed to be beneficial to the others in each particular lab. Within the genetics division, I decided to move to another lab just because I didn't want to get stagnant by working with the same people, and I really wanted to get away from Lauren. Lauren was a woman in my group who was extremely intelligent, but one of the biggest bitches I had ever met, so I thought working with people who were hopefully a little less conceited would help boost my morale.

There was only one other lab group available for me to transfer into, so I really hoped it was going to work out for me.

"Hi, I'm Bella," I introduced myself to the man sitting next to me.

He looked at me confused. "Are you a doctor?" he asked.

"Yes," I said not understanding his question. Most people there were doctors of one form or another.

"Then why would you call yourself 'Bella?' This is a professional facility, you should be using your professional name," the man scolded.

"Oh…sorry. I'm Doctor Swan," I corrected.

"Doctor Amun," he introduced himself, though he seemed annoyed to have to do so.

"Ok, let's get right back to where we were," someone announced as they breezed into the room. I looked up, and was surprised to see Dr. Carlisle Cullen walking towards the front of the room. "Has anyone made any conclusions from yesterday?" he asked everyone.

"The only conclusion that can be made, is that there is no connection between the two," a woman said from the other side of the lab.

"Ah, that's what they want you to believe," Dr. Cullen said, and then he looked at me. "Doctor Swan, glad to have you join us."

"Thanks," I said a little embarrassed because everyone turned to look at me.

"I run this lab, but you'll find it different than the other lab you worked in before. I think it's best to work as a group, so there will be open discussion here," Dr. Cullen explained.

"Great," I replied sincerely. Even though we all worked in lab groups, the last group I was in basically kept to themselves except when they had a serious issue, which didn't seem beneficial to me. Real group work always made more sense in order to bounce ideas off of one another, and it was the way I had learned in school so I was grateful for the change.

Dr. Cullen's lab was the perfect change of pace, and I felt that renewal that I had been searching for. The man was brilliant, and he had an enthusiasm for genetics which I didn't see too often. He made the genetic code sound like the most fascinating thing in the world, and I had to agree with him.

After we were finished for the day, everyone left to go about their business, but I lingered behind hoping to talk to Dr. Cullen before he left.

"Is there something you'd like to discuss?" Dr. Cullen asked me after noticing I was the only one left.

"Yeah….I, uh, was hoping you could tell me a little about your son," I said feeling embarrassed and uneasy.

He pressed his lips and breathed out hard through his nose. "Edward is a very…unique individual," he said cryptically.

"Yeah, I gathered that. I just never see him or any of the others around anymore. I was wondering if there was any way I could get in contact with them?"

He smirked. "They are all very busy and save their social time for the weekends," Dr. Cullen said quickly.

"What's the deal with them anyway? It's like no one here knows anything, and they refuse to talk even if they did."

Dr. Cullen didn't get uncomfortable with my question, but he did start walking back to his desk as if he was going to avoid it. But then, he spoke. "They are all extremely gifted and talented young men and women, and we're very grateful to have them here with us. I'm sure you'll see them around in the next couple of days," he said vaguely, and I knew he wasn't going to tell me anymore.

I nodded, and then left for the night. I was disappointed to not know anything else about the elusive Cullen's, but at least I believed I'd see them again.

I was almost eager to get through dinner and back home for the night, because when I was alone, it was the only time I felt like myself. And when I slept, I knew I'd be visited by Edward in my dreams, which I had slowly accepted as being a good thing. If only I could find a way to see more of him in reality as well….


	4. New Blood

**Chapter 4 – New Blood** ~

It was Saturday, exactly two weeks after my zip lining trip with the Cullen's. I hadn't seen any of them since that day, but Edward did tell me that they go out every other week, and he implied that I'd be welcome to go with them….but they never showed. Not knowing what happened to them, or where they went, strangely made me very anxious, so I spent my Saturday reading alone in my apartment. I should have gone into the lab, but I just couldn't think clearly at that moment and I knew I wouldn't get anything done.

Sunday was just as uneventful as Saturday had been, and by Monday I was going completely stir crazy, so going to work was actually a welcomed relief.

"Hi, Doctor Amun," I said a little too enthusiastically when he walked through the door. He mumbled some kind of response, and then he sat next to me quietly. Everyone else filed in and took their seats with some low chatter, but then Dr. Cullen walked in and everyone was silent. He was a vision of exquisite beauty, and I couldn't take my eyes off of him; of course it wasn't Dr. Carlisle Cullen like we were expecting - it was Edward.

"Doctor Cullen will be out for the next week, so I'll be filling in for him," Edward announced. "For those who are new this month, my name is also Doctor Cullen, and those who know me know I don't like to mess around the way my father does. Any questions, concerns, comments?" He waited and looked around the room to see if anyone had anything to say. His eyes grazed over me, but they didn't linger; he acted as if he didn't know me any better than anyone else in the room. "Great, let's get started," he said when no one spoke up.

I had come to know Dr. Carlisle Cullen as being very lighthearted and liked to joke with everyone in lab, but Edward was the opposite, which I found extremely strange considering how carefree he seemed to be around the other Cullens. My colleagues started asking him questions, and he'd answer them as if they were elementary. It was clear that he was extremely intelligent, probably one of the most gifted minds on the whole compound, but it was also obvious that he had no desire to socialize with anyone, which I could definitely relate to.

But having Edward there was definitely a bittersweet distraction as I would repeatedly get lost during the day while watching him work. Even when he was doing paperwork at his desk, I still found myself gawking at him. He kept scrunching his brows together creating creases between them, and I would have given anything to know what he was thinking. He seemed so stressed about something; though, I was sure it had nothing to do with his work because it was plain to see just how easy it came to him.

When it was time for lunch, I was going to ask Edward if he wanted to grab something to eat with me, but he practically ran out of the room before I had a chance. After we all reconvened an hour later, he returned with the same hard expression.

As the hours slowly ticked on, I tried to get whatever work done I could so I wouldn't look unprofessional in front of Edward; not that he noticed me or anyone else in the lab. We could have been blasting music and tossing a pizza around contaminating all our work, and he probably wouldn't have reacted with how distracted he was. When we were done for the day, I was determined to talk to him, but like at lunch, he darted out of the room as if he had somewhere important to be. Unfortunately for me, the rest of the week went pretty much the same way, and we didn't have a single personal conversation the entire time.

Still disappointed from my eventless week of lab with Edward, Saturday had rolled back around and I decided to not let that weekend go by the same way the weekend before had. I needed to do some digging and try to figure out what exactly was going on with the Cullens. I got dressed and opened the door to leave, but to my surprise, Alice was standing there about to knock.

"Oh good, you're ready," she said with a grin. I noted that her hair streaks were then bright orange, and I vaguely wondered what color they would be the next time I saw her.

"Hey…how are you?" I asked confused but happy she was there. "Ready for what?"

She shrugged. "We never know where we're going. Remember?"

I smiled. "Whose turn is it today?"

"Emmett's. And we all worry when it's his turn, so just prepare yourself."

"Right," I said and then grabbed my purse. We started to walk to the gate silently, but I had to ask what had happened before to make them no-shows. "So…I thought we were supposed to go out last weekend?"

"I'm sorry to leave you hanging, something came up. Edward was wrong to promise trips every other week, because we can't always make it."

"Oh… Well, what happened?" I prodded, hoping she would open up or at least give me some kind of clue.

"Just work stuff…. You know how that is," she said vaguely and I knew she wasn't going to say anymore. I was so frustrated with all the secrets, but I tried to push it away and enjoy the trip.

Like before, a black Escalade was waiting for us with the door open. Alice got in and climbed in the way back with Rosalie, I slid in the middle seat next to Edward, and Jasper came and sat on the other side of me. Emmett was in the front seat again.

"Hey," I said as they all stared at me.

"Ok Bella, it's my pick today and you're going to do whatever I say. Right?" Emmett asked me with a sadistic grin.

"Uh…sure," I said hesitantly. "What did you pick to do last time?" I asked him.

"We went to a wildlife preserve, and got to wrestle with tigers," he said happily.

"Are you kidding?" I asked horrified.

"They were movie animals, and the tiger was trained to wrestle with people without hurting them," Rosalie clarified.

"Hey, it still could have killed us," he said defensively.

"Not likely," she rebutted. "It didn't have any teeth or claws."

"So, you always do something extreme?" I questioned as the car started to drive.

"Yes, very extreme. Last month we went into France by copter, and had to shop all day," Jasper said in a mocking tone. "Guess who's pick that was?"

"Hey, I didn't complain when you wanted to visit the army base for a day of boot camp training," Rosalie argued.

"Yeah, but that was fun," Emmett chimed in. "Shopping was torture."

Everyone started talking amongst themselves, so I turned to Edward. "So, I thought your work in lab this week was amazing," I told him, unsure what else to say.

"Yeah, we've been busy," he said absently while looking out the window.

"It feels like we're close to something, doesn't it?" I asked, trying to engage him in conversation.

"Uh huh," he said nonchalantly.

"So, are you going to be in lab on Monday, or is your dad coming back?"

"We're not sure yet….Hey Em, are we headed to an air strip?" he asked, dodging my question.

"You have to wait and see," Emmett said playfully.

We drove a little ways further, and sure enough we pulled up to an air field of some sort, and then I noticed the helicopter stationed inside the gate.

"I love copter rides, don't you?" Alice asked me excitedly.

"Uh, I can't say that I've ever been in one," I admitted nervously.

"Oh, you're in for a treat."

We all climbed inside and buckled up, and unfortunately Edward wasn't seated next me to cling to. But I refused to be afraid of heights, not anymore. When we took off my stomach dropped, and it reminded me of the one and only time I had ever been on a rollercoaster. I gripped tightly to my safety harness, and slowly looked out the window as the world got smaller beneath me. It was completely surreal that I was in a helicopter with a bunch of people I never imagined I'd ever associate with, and yet they all felt like old friends in a way.

Our flight didn't seem to last very long, a couple hours at most, but after we touched ground with a jolt, I quickly realized we had landed in a different country.

"So, do you often fly to different countries?" I asked Jasper since he was currently in closest proximity to me.

"We've been all over Europe and Asia," he replied casually.

"Oh, well next time I'll be sure to bring my passport," I said, mostly to myself.

"Don't worry about it, we would have you covered regardless of where we go," he told me.

"What do you mean?" I asked confused, but then I looked past him and saw Edward handing a man a paper of some sort. The man with the official looking jacket nodded, and then handed the paper back to him and motioned to let us pass. "What was that all about?" I asked baffled.

"We have amnesty," Jasper answered.

"What? Why?" I asked even more puzzled.

He shrugged. "KRO pays a lot of money for us to move freely in Europe, Asia, hell, even Australia."

"Wha…how?" I asked, but it seemed as though Jasper wasn't going to explain any further..

I concluded that it was just one more thing to add to the list of KRO mysteries which I would have to put on the back burner, and compared to everything else that happened the border amnesty thing was the least important to me.

We got into a waiting van, and then drove about ten minutes before pulling up to a harbor. We all got out of the car, and followed Emmett down a pier to a small boat hut. I caught a glimpse of a map hanging on the side, and realized we were currently on the coast of Spain, which was wildly amazing on its own.

"Welcome," a man greeted us.

"Welcome to what?" Rosalie asked suspiciously.

"Today, we're diving with sharks!" Emmett said enthusiastically.

Rosalie and Alice both whined at the same time. "Em, I spent all morning on my hair and makeup," Rosalie complained.

"And you look beautiful, honey, but you're still going to get wet," he replied with a huge childlike grin.

"We didn't bring our suits," Alice protested.

"They have a shop right over there. Go buy some," Emmett instructed.

Alice huffed then grabbed what looked like a credit card from Emmett, and then Rosalie began to follow her to the shop.

"Come on, Bella; if we have to go, so do you!" Rosalie called to me.

"Uh…ok," I said and grabbed my purse before running to catch up with them.

Rosalie and Alice each picked out a suit for themselves, as well as a pair of men's trunks.

"So, you're buying the guys suits too?" I assumed.

"Yep. Which should we get for Edward?" Alice asked me.

"Uh…how about those," I joked, pointing to a pair of swim trunks that had an open shark's mouth on the crotch.

"Oooo, we should get them all joke trunks as payback," Rosalie suggested.

"Oh yeah, lets," Alice agreed and they both put back the trunks they had. "And we'll get super sexy bikinis and flirt with the boat guy to make them jealous."

It hadn't occurred to me before then that they were actually couples; Alice was with Jasper, and Rosalie was with Emmett. I knew they were together all the time, but I suppose I thought they were all just close professional working partners. I couldn't help but smile by the thought. It was definitely a bonus that there didn't seem to be any rules against dating coworkers and that Edward appeared to be unattached.

We brought our finds to the store counter, and I laughed at their choices. Alice got Jasper a bright orange suit with a giant happy face, which was funny enough, but then I saw Rosalie's choice… she got Emmett a teeny leopard print Speedo.

"Oh Rose, he's going to kill you," Alice said with a laugh.

"Serves him right," Rosalie replied smugly.

I got out my credit card.

"Oh no, put it away; these are on us," Rosalie said when she saw my intention to self pay.

"No way. You're not buying mine," I told them.

"We won't, KRO will," Alice said with a smile while flashing me the credit card Emmett had given her.

"You do this on the company's money?" I asked surprised.

"Please, they owe us," Rose said peculiarly.

Alice suddenly took in a sharp breath. "What. Is. That?" she asked horrified.

"What?" I asked confused.

"That?" she said pointing at the modest, navy blue, one piece I picked up for myself.

"My bathing suit," I said slowly, not understanding the problem.

"Oh, no it's not," Alice said then grabbed the suit. She looked at the tag, assumedly for the size, and then she grabbed a bikini.

"Uh….I don't have a body like yours," I said horrified by the thought.

"Please," she said insulted by my lack of confidence. Without further discussion, she threw the bikini with the others, and handed the man the KRO credit card.

We walked back to where the guys were, and Alice was almost giddy with anticipation as the guys waited to see what we got them.

"Ok, what's the damage?" Jasper asked knowing something was up.

"No damage, we are just excited about the suits we got you," Alice said before kissing Jasper sweetly on the lips.

"Uh oh," Jasper said after she pulled away from him. "I really don't like the sound of this."

Alice pulled Edward's shark jaws suit out first, since it was the least offensive.

"Ah shit," Emmett said knowing his was going to be worse.

Alice then pulled out Jasper's orange happy face one and he immediately whined as he looked at it, but then she handed Emmett the bag with his suit still concealed inside. "I had nothing to do with yours," she told him so he knew who to be angry with when he saw it.

"Babe?" Emmett practically cried when he looked inside. He pulled it out, touching it as little as possible as if it were the most disgusting thing on earth, and then Edward and Jasper started cracking up hysterically.

"Speedos are the best for scuba diving. I checked," Rosalie told him carelessly.

"Well, why didn't they get them then?" Em asked as Edward and Jasper continued to laugh.

"They just aren't as secure in their masculinity as you are," Rose said while running her hand under his shirt, and rubbing his stomach.

"Damn right," he agreed.

We all separated to get changed, and by the time we came back together, the guys were ready but still wearing shirts with their swim wear; of course that didn't stop Edward and Jasper from laughing at Emmett's bottom half.

"Don't be jealous cause my cock is bigger than yours," Em said to them.

Edward tried to come up with a good comeback, but he couldn't stop laughing long enough to talk.

"Hello boys," Rosalie said as she strutted in front of them in her barely there bikini. Alice followed her lead and did the same, but I kept my shirt on over my suit.

The girls bypassed their boyfriends, and went straight to the guys on the boat to begin flirting with him.

"Hey, what the fuck?" Emmett said out loud.

"Move your eyes!" Jasper ordered when he caught one of the boat-hands staring at Alice's backside.

We all boarded the boat, and I immediately noticed the large cage in the middle.

"Are we really going in there?" I asked with a gulp. I may have conquered my fear of heights, but claustrophobia was a whole other issue.

"Oh yeah," the boat hand with the surfer-boy bleached hair said.

We all got comfortable and watched in awe as the boat took us out to the crystal clear ocean, but I couldn't help but feel uneasy about the way the bleached haired guy kept staring and smiling at me. Sure he was attractive - in a beach bum with washboard abs kind of way, but I wasn't there to be hit on and wasn't the least bit interested.

"Would you like to fish?" one of the other guys who also worked on the boat asked.

"Hell yes!" Emmett shouted, and grabbed a pole. We all took turns fishing, but after I tried unsuccessfully, I sat back and watched Edward and Emmett compete to see who could snag the largest catch. Edward had managed to avoid me most of the trip thus far, and I began wondering why, but then the blonde boat guy came and sat way too close to me, forcing all my attention onto his invasion of my personal space.

"Hi, I'm Mike," he said, clearly trying to sound seductive.

"Good for you," I said a little more rudely than I intended.

"So, that red haired guy," he said pointing to Edward. "Is he your brother?"

"No. Why would you say that?" I asked confused as to how he could come to a conclusion like that.

"Well, he watches you like a hawk, but it doesn't seem to be in like…a romantic kind of way."

"Huh?" I said surprised. "He doesn't watch me."

"Oh, yeah he does. When you're not looking, he practically looks like he wants to eat you alive."

I shook my head wondering why the guy was even talking to me in the first place.

The boat finally came to a stop, and they dropped the anchor.

"Would anyone like to toss the chum?" the ship captain asked. Edward and Jasper pushed Emmett forward.

"Perfect. Here you go," he said and handed Em a large cup. "Just scoop, and then pour it into the water."

Em eagerly poured the bloody fish parts in, all the while wearing a huge grin on his face.

"And this will attract the sharks?" Rosalie asked.

"Oh yeah. Maybe we'll even get a great white," the captain replied.

"Can't wait," she said sarcastically.

They lowered the cage into the water and told us to go in pairs, so Em and Rose went first.

"So, is there a way to strap us together in the water too?" I asked Edward jokingly.

"I don't think so," he said dryly.

"Ok," I said suddenly feeling embarrassed, so I went to try to get my mind off of his harsh indifference towards me, and looked into the water to see if I could spot any sharks below. Edward clearly didn't want anything to do with me at the moment, and I wasn't about to force myself on him. That Mike guy was nuts for saying Edward kept staring at me, because that certainly wasn't the case, even if I wished it were.

"We're going to go last, so it's your turn," Jasper said to me after Emmett and Rose came back up.

"Oh, ok," I said surprised. I glanced over at Alice on the other side of the boat, and she almost looked sick. "Is she ok?" I asked Edward, assuming he knew what was going on with her.

"Yeah, she just started not feeling well," he explained absently.

"She seemed fine earlier," I said.

He shrugged. "She'll be ok, it's probably seasickness."

I looked back at Alice and was surprised to see Jasper giving her an injection in her hip.

"What kind of shot helps seasickness?" I asked skeptically.

"I said she was fine. Just forget about it," Edward said sharply.

"Ok," I mumbled, almost feeling guilty for asking. Indifference was one thing, but I didn't understand Edward's sudden hostility, especially since it only seemed to be directed towards me. I really thought we had connected during the two other times that we spent together, but I guess the feeling wasn't mutual.

I tried to give Edward the space that he seemed to be wanting, but then he took off his shirt …

I didn't realize that I had stopped breathing until the weird Mike guy brought an air tank over to me.

"Uh, are you going to leave your shirt on?" Mike asked me.

"What?" I asked not paying attention. I was far too distracted by Edward's perfection to listen to the guy talking to me. Emmett was built, but he was far too big for my taste, whereas Edward was flawless. Strong and muscular with a well defined back and shoulders – it was almost too much to take.

I had seen Edward almost shirtless when we played basketball, but seeing him completely bare from the waist up gave me serious heart arrhythmia.

"Are you going to leave your shirt on, or do you want to take it off?" Mike asked me again.

"Oh, sorry," I said, and then tentatively took off my shirt.

I was completely embarrassed to be so exposed - especially when Mike commented on my body. "Damn, you are one sexy woman," he said quietly so no one else heard him. I dismissed the comment, and moved away from him to put on my wetsuit.

As I was pulling the suit up my legs, I just happened to glance up and caught Edward raking his eyes over the length of my body. If he was anyone else, I probably would have tried to cover myself, but I couldn't help the unexpected wave of confidence I suddenly felt from having his eyes on me in that way, and decided to take my time to finish pulling the suit up.

When our eyes accidently met, Edward quickly looked away and pretended to not notice me anymore, so I sighed and finished getting ready.

"Ready for this?" I asked him as we stepped up on the edge of the boat.

"Yeah," he replied coldly. He looked away again, and we both put in our mouth pieces.

Despite Edward's lack of interest in me, other than his apparent onceover, I was still glad he was in there with me. I was much more willing to do crazy things when he was close by, which I wasn't sure was good or not.

Inside the cage, the weightlessness of the water was an amazing feeling, and I didn't even think about my claustrophobia. They threw in more chum from above, and the sharks went crazy; it was actually a really amazing experience. We stayed under water for about twenty minutes, and then we were ready to get out.

Alice seemed to be back to normal by the time we resurfaced, which was a huge relief, for me anyway. No one else seemed worried at all, and I wondered if her getting sick like that was a normal occurrence, or if it really was nothing more than seasickness.

While Alice and Jasper took their turn, the other guys started fishing again, and Rosalie was sun bathing, so I followed her lead and stretched out on the side deck of the boat to dry off in the sun. It was so peaceful letting my skin absorb the vitamin D, and that combined with the gentle rocking of the boat, I actually almost fell asleep… almost.

Suddenly I felt someone's cold hands on my upper thigh, and although I was momentarily hoping it was Edward, I knew it wasn't. My eyes snapped open, and I immediately pushed the hand away. It was Mike.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I asked angrily.

"What? I was just rubbing sunscreen on you. You're starting to burn," Mike said while licking his lips.

"Like hell you were," I rebutted.

"Come on sweet-lips, let's go below deck and fuck like teenagers on prom night."

"You are disgusting!" I said, shocked by his uncouth forwardness but annoyed more than anything. I got up to get away from him, but he grabbed my arm and pulled me closer.

"Come on baby, no one needs to know," he said quietly in my ear, and his rancid breath washed down my neck making me want to vomit. "We'll be rocking the boat, and they'll just think the boat is…rocking."

"Let go of me now, before I scream," I threatened. We were on the side of the boat so the others didn't see us, but I was sure if I screamed that they would hear.

But he didn't let go, at least not before Edward rounded the corner and saw him holding me against his body.

"What the hell is going on?" Edward asked irately.

"Nothing," I responded. "Mike here, was just about to let me go and never come near me again," I said strongly while glaring at him because he was still holding my arm.

"Don't be coy, babe," he said to me, and then looked at Edward. "You just caught us at a private moment. We were just about to go below deck, but now you've embarrassed her."

Edward narrowed his brow and nodded his head without taking his eyes off of Mike. "Well, I'm sorry," he said strangely.

"That's ok, buddy, no worries."

Edward nodded again. "Well, you might want to be worried," he said, and then punched him hard in the face.

"What the fuck!" Mike yelled as he rolled around the deck holding his face.

"If you as much as breathe on her again, I'll throw you overbroad and let the sharks eat you!" Edward threatened viciously.

"No man, you got it all wrong," Mike said while blood poured from his nose as he got up. "She wanted it. We're two consenting adults, and you have no right…." He didn't get to finish his sentence because Edward punched him again. After he stumbled to recover himself for the second time, he stood back up and charged Edward. It only took a second for Edward to get Mike pinned on the deck, but he continued to pound on him in what looked like a blind rage. Thankfully, Emmett and the captain then stepped in and pulled him off before he had a chance to do permanent damage. The entire fight only lasted a few seconds, but it seemed so much longer as I stood there like an idiot watching it, ignorant as to what else to do.

"What the hell is going on here?" the captain yelled at them.

"He attacked me because his girlfriend wanted to fuck me!" Mike struggled to say while gurgling on his own blood.

His comment just pissed off Edward even more, so he started thrashing around to try to break free from Emmett's grasp. "Chill bro," Em said calmingly, but Edward was still fuming. "What happened, Bella?" Em asked me while still holding Edward.

"Mike wasn't taking 'no' for an answer," I managed to choke out.

Em nodded. "You need to take that bastard below deck before me and my brother kill him," he told the captain.

The captain agreed, and took Mike below and presumably locked him in the galley while the rest of us struggled to calm down.

"Are you ok?" Edward asked me, still shaking with anger.

"Yeah, thanks," I murmured, absolutely hating that he was put into that position because of me.

For the rest of the trip, Edward stayed close to me but still didn't talk much. He watched me when I'd move, but it wasn't in a freaky way, it was protective and actually made me feel oddly good. I didn't understand Edward and his drastic mood swings, but I knew without a doubt that I was going to figure him out eventually, one way or another.

We went home and said goodbye, but I didn't ask when or if we'd get back together. Whatever strange thing they were involved in wasn't consistent, so Alice was right in saying planning wasn't practical.

…

I was disappointed when Carlisle showed back up in lab on Monday, but that lunch made everything better when I found all of the Cullens together at a picnic bench in the compound courtyard, except they had a new addition.

"Hi," I said walking over to them. I wasn't sure if they'd want me acknowledging them on the KRO grounds because of their odd secrecy, but Alice smiled at me and gestured for me to sit.

"Bella, this is Bree. Bree, this is our friend Bella," Alice introduced me to the extremely young looking girl, who didn't look a day older than sixteen.

"Hi," Bree said shyly.

I wanted to ask her if she worked there, and I really wanted to know how old she was, but the few times I spent with the Cullens taught me to not ask too many question, and some answers would come out naturally.

"Are you a Cullen too?" Bree asked me unexpectedly.

"Bree!" Edward hushed her, and shook his head warningly.

"Sorry," she whispered, and then went back to her lunch.

"So…where are you from, Bree?" I asked, trying to break the awkwardness and make small talk.

"Uh…" She looked back to Edward strangely, but he didn't respond. "Lockhart," she said timidly.

"Oh California, cool. My dad and I spent a summer touring the best barbecues in the south. Living in Lockhart, I'm sure you've had Black's BBQ. What's your favorite there?" I asked excited to be able to connect with the new mysterious girl.

Bree stared at me absently for a moment. "What's…barbecue?" she asked suddenly.

Everyone was silent for a few moments, and then Edward started laughing, which prompted the rest of them to start laughing too. "Oh Bree, you're so funny," he said before standing and grabbing her arm. "You must have pretty bad jet lag. Let's get you to your room." He then pulled her up, and they walked away without another word.

"What just happened?" I asked the rest of them.

"Oh, I'm sure Edward is right," Jasper said dismissively. "Bree just got here, so I'm sure she's feeling a bit sluggish. Well, we should get back to work," he told the others.

"Yep, good seeing you, Bella," Emmett said casually, and Rosalie and Alice said goodbye as well, before they all left quietly.

I sat there dumbfounded as they disappeared around the bend, but then my curiosity got the better of me. I thought I'd be able to be patient and let the clues of the truth come naturally, but I just couldn't take it anymore. They were all really friendly and seemed happy when I was with them outside the compound, but between their most recent peculiar behavior and the new addition, I just had to know what was going on. So I did the only thing I could think of….I followed them.


	5. Seven Dwarfs

**Chapter 5 – Seven Dwarfs~**

I felt bad for following them, but I just couldn't control my curiosity anymore. It became less about wanting to know, and more like a need; if I didn't figure out the secret of the Cullens, I was sure to go insane.

They walked between the lab buildings, and around the back of the tennis court. Behind the equipment warehouse there was a second smaller warehouse which I hadn't noticed before, and that's where they were headed. I followed faster because I knew they were going to use their IDs to get in, and I was sure mine wouldn't work there. I hid around the corner from them and watched as Emmett swiped his card and the door opened, so they all filed in. I stayed hidden until the last possible moment before the door shut behind them, and then I made a mad dash to grab it before it could lock.

Inside there was nothing but a large empty space with a cement floor and an elevator. I told myself to turn back. My conscience was screaming at me to just leave it alone, but I found myself pressing the button regardless. I had no idea what floor the Cullen's would have gone to, so once I stepped inside the elevator I took a chance and pushed the one marked A.

My stomach dropped as the elevator quickly descended, and I suddenly became extremely worried. I had no idea where I was going or what I'd discover, and I was fairly certain that I wouldn't be able to find my way out. I was going to have to ask someone for help, and then I was sure to be fired and I'd never know the truth or see any of the Cullens again.

When the doors to the elevator opened however, I was surprised to find what looked like nothing more than an ordinary hallway with many doors.

But if it was really ordinary, then it wouldn't be so secretive, so I quietly walked forward. I almost got to the end when suddenly I heard a noise from behind me which made me jump, so I hurried to round the bend hoping whoever, or whatever made the noise wouldn't see me. The more I listened, the more I realized that the noise was actually footsteps echoing down the long hallway as someone walked closer.

I was trapped, and about to be discovered.

The sound came even closer, and I had no choice but to stay and await my punishment for trespassing. I pushed my back against the wall, closed my eyes, and wished I could be invisible. The noise got louder, but the moment that the person was about to turn the corner and see me, someone else grabbed me from the opposite side, and yanked me towards them hard.

I was pulled into one of the many doors before it was slammed shut, and I gasped when I realized who had me.

"What the hell are you doing down here?" Edward said in an angry whisper. Before I could answer him, he abruptly put his index finger to his perfect lips to hush me.

Then, there was a knock.

"Yo, Cullen, you in there?" a voice I didn't recognize asked from the other side of the door.

"Yeah!" Edward shouted back.

"Hey-ya, Aro wants to see you at six," the man's voice said.

"Ok, fine," Edward replied bitterly. We were quiet for a little while longer to make sure the man left, and then we both relaxed slightly. I looked around the room, and noticed that it was actually an apartment, much like mine.

"Is this where you live?" I asked him, breaking the silence between us.

"Yes… What the hell are you doing down here, and how'd you get in anyway?" he asked calmer than before. "Do you realize that you could have been caught, and it would have ended very badly?"

"I'm sorry," I started to say, but he wasn't done lecturing me yet.

"You shouldn't be down here. It's not safe. If I wasn't the one who found you…"

"What do you mean, 'It's not safe'?" I interrupted him. I figured I'd be fired if I was caught, but I never thought I was in any real danger.

He shook his head, and then took a deep breath. "This is an extremely classified sector - "

"Wait, why do you live in the classified sector?" I interrupted him.

"Everyone who works in this sector lives here. It just makes security easier. But that's besides the point! If someone else saw you down here and thought you might have seen something, they'd find a way to make sure you were silenced."

He didn't come out and say it, but he didn't have to. He meant that the repercussions for my trespassing would be far worse than being fired. Jail, or even…. No, they wouldn't really kill me over it, would they?

"Oh my god, I need to get out of here," I said in a panic, finally letting it sink in just how stupid I was for going down there.

"You can't. Not right now," he said strangely. "It's peak work time down here, and someone will surely see you. You just need to stay in here and I'll sneak you out later."

"Edward, what is going on? If my life is really in danger then I at least deserve to know why."

He nodded again, and then went to sit on his couch. "You're right, you do," he said surprisingly. I was expecting him to argue more, but he didn't, and I was finally going to get some answers. I went to sit next to him and waited for him to explain. "Down here is where they do experiments with the findings they make above."

I was definitely not as surprised as maybe I should have been. It made sense that they would want to put our findings to the test before they made them public. But that still didn't explain why it was so secretive.

"But we all signed confidentiality agreements, so why can't they just tell us the truth?" I asked him.

"Well we both know that sometimes people talk when they shouldn't, even if they think it's innocent," he said with an obvious innuendo.

"They did tap my phone!" I said angrily again, especially because he knew and seemed to be excusing it.

"Of course they tapped your phone," he said like it was nothing. "They tap everyone's phone; its standard procedure."

"How is that legal?" I asked.

"It's not, and that's my point. A lot of what they do with the doctors up there isn't legal, but everything they do down here is completely illegal. Why do you think the compound is in Italy instead of the US? The government is less intrusive here, and they don't ask as many questions."

"What are they doing that's so illegal?" I asked confused as to how experiments could be wrong. "Without testing, we'd never discover anything."

"Right. The earliest doctors of internal medicine use to steal corpses from the morgue to dissect them. It was illegal and considered immoral, but without those doctors, we wouldn't know what we do today. Sometimes we have to push the law to make the world a better place," he said assuredly.

"So, what? Are they experimenting on monkeys, or something?" I assumed.

"Or something," he said quietly.

I was about to push the subject further, but then there was another knock on the door.

"Yo, Cullen!" someone yelled.

"What?" Edward asked annoyed.

"Aro has free time and wants to see you now instead of at six!"

"Fine, I'm coming!" Edward looked at me anxiously. "You need to just stay in here and try to keep quiet," he said with concern heavy in his voice.

"Why does Aro want you?" I asked worriedly.

He shrugged. "Aro always wants something."

Edward got up and left, and then I heard him lock the door with his key. I wasn't locked in, and if I absolutely needed to get out I was sure that I could, but I wasn't about to risk it. Besides, I was in Edward Cullen's personal apartment – a place I didn't think I'd ever get to see, which was the tiniest glimmer of a positive in a situation full of negatives.

Hoping to distract myself from the possibility of the imminent danger I was in, and with having nothing else to do, I got up and started looking around the room. I was trying to get to know Edward a little better by the way his apartment was set up, and the first thing I noticed was that there was a ton of CDs. Most were classical, but he also had some rock, and even some hip hop mixed in. I was surprised by his varied collection, but it was really neat too. Along with the music, there were also a ton of books and DVDs.

I didn't want to snoop too much, so I stayed out of his bedroom, but I couldn't help but use the restroom. Everything from the towels to the floor mats were all blue, and they were all perfect. Nothing in his apartment seemed to be out of place, except for a notebook on the coffee table. I flipped through the book curiously, and saw that it was full of sketches, poetry, and musical notes, but then I noticed that it had date entries in it, so I closed it and put it down. I may want to know everything about him, but I wasn't about to read his private journal, if that's what it was.

A little less than an hour later Edward came back looking scared, but when he saw me there he sighed and almost seemed to be relieved.

"Are you ok? What did Aro want?" I asked him, afraid he somehow found out that I was down there.

"Nothing important. It was just Aro being Aro, like always. I just nod when he talks to me, and ignore him the rest of the time."

"But isn't he your boss?" I asked confused.

"No, I don't have a boss, but I let Aro believe he is. Otherwise he just makes life more difficult for everyone."

"Oh," was all I could say. I had so many questions, but I had no idea where to start.

"So, how'd you get down here anyway?" he asked me before I could even form a cohesive thought.

"I followed the Cullens," I admitted sheepishly.

"Wow, I didn't take you as the stalker type," he teased, breaking the tension caused by the seriousness of the situation.

"Would you have ever talked to me if you knew?" I joked back.

"Well, you are beautiful, so I may have made an exception," he said unexpectedly, making me blush. He always seemed to make me blush.

"I was looking at your music collection," I said, trying to change the subject. I walked over to the shelf and he followed me. "You have so much," I told him in awe as I looked over them again.

"Yeah, different moods call for different genres," he explained.

"I definitely agree with that. Music was the only way I was able to get through med school. When I was stressed, I always listened to something calming; when I needed to pump myself up, it was an inspirational song or something energetic."

"I do the exact same thing," he admitted. "I like movies and books, but when something is on my mind that needs to be worked out, I always turn to music."

"Well, what type of thing do you need to work out right now?" I asked while pressing 'play' on his player. I was expecting to hear something classical, but I was absolutely shocked by the notes resounding in the room.

He shrugged embarrassed. "It's Bump N' Grind," he said as R. Kelly's voice came out of the speakers. I just stared at him for a moment, and then we both started laughing hysterically.

"Wow, a classic. So, were you bumping and grinding alone, or did you have help?" I asked without thinking and immediately became embarrassed.

"No, actually it's Emmett's. He gave it to me yesterday and said I had to listen to it. I put it in for a few seconds, and then I turned it off," he explained.

"Yeah, Emmett does seem like that type," I said having no reason not to believe his story. "It's too bad though, maybe you'd be a little less moody if you had a little more grinding in your life."

He raised his eyebrows stunned by my comment, and quite frankly, so was I. I had no idea how that came out of my mouth, but the truth was that I really didn't care at that point. We were both adults, and there was no reason to be embarrassed…at least, that's what I told myself.

"Maybe you're right," he said, taking me aback. I wasn't expecting that comeback, but I never did know what to expect when it came to Edward.

And then we were in motion. I had no idea who grabbed who first, but the next thing I knew we were all over each other. I couldn't believe it was actually happening, and I vaguely wondered if it was real or if I was dreaming again.

Somehow we ended up rolling around on the couch; hands groping, clothes coming undone, and our mouths working together as if our lives depended on it. His tongue tasted so good in my mouth that I almost lost complete control, but I tried to fight the haze; dream or not, I wanted to remember every second of it.

I never wanted to get completely naked while having sex before, but the thought of his eyes full of lust as they raked over my body the way they had when I was wearing my bikini, was too much of a turn on to ignore, so I willingly surrendered every article of clothing I was wearing to the unappreciative floor.

His mouth left my lips, and trailed down my neck and onto my exposed breasts. While he kissed one, he kneaded the other with his hand in the most tantalizing way.

I had fantasized about him in that way so many times since I first laid eyes on him, and there he was, touching me, flesh to flesh, with his perfect lips on my sensitized skin. It was absolutely incredible, and the thought alone was pushing me towards the edge way before I was ready.

I reached down and unzipped his pants, and then I slipped my hand in to grab a hold of him. He moaned when I tightened my grip, but that just made me ache for him even more.

"We should…" he said while huffing. I was sure he was going to say 'stop', but I was pleasantly surprised and grateful when he said "go to the bedroom."

"Ok," I panted. I waited for him to get off of me so I could get up, but when he did, he lifted me up with him. I automatically wrapped my legs around his waist, and replanted my lips to his as he carried me for a few feet towards the bedroom, but then he stopped in the hall and pushed me against the wall.

We weren't going to make it to the bedroom.

He used the wall as leverage, and ran his hands up to my hips. My core was pressed firmly against his stomach as he held me in place, but I wanted a different part of him pressed against me and inside of me, so I scooted down lower where I could feel him in just the right place.

I was completely naked, but he still had his boxer-briefs on, which seemed completely unfair from my perspective. His sentiments must have echoed mine, because he then held me up with one hand, and with the other he reached down and slid off his underwear. The fire between us was burning too hot with aching desire, and as much as I wanted to savor every second and prolong the feeling, I couldn't take it anymore and I needed relief. Without further warning, he thrust into me, right there against the wall….

He was completely flawless, and as we continued through the sensation, I knew I'd never be satisfied with anyone else again, and I realized then that I had truly never been satisfied before him either.

After we came together explosively, he stilled inside of me to bask the afterglow of our high. He then pressed his forehead against mine, and without letting me go, we both started giggling. Why we were laughing in that way, I had no idea, but since we were still connected it only added to the feeling.

After a few more minutes, he pulled out slowly, and lowered me so my feet were back on the ground, but he kept his arms wrapped securely around me.

"We're really going to have to do that again," he said breathlessly.

"Real soon," I agreed. "Like, in a couple minutes."

"Maybe we'll make it to the bedroom next time," he said, and we both started giggling again.

I was vaguely aware that he didn't wear a condom, but I couldn't bring myself to care at that moment. I figured with so many doctors around, I was sure to find a morning-after pill somewhere, and I was feeling far too good to allow myself to be worried about it right then.

We broke apart eventually, and clumsily found our clothes and redressed. I expected things to be weird between us for awhile, but actually it was the opposite. All the sexual tension was alleviated for the time being, which I realized had been the base to some of our stressed interactions, and I became instantly comfortable with him.

….

"So, what's this then?" I asked picking up the notebook on the coffee table. Edward was in the kitchen making us sandwiches, but he stopped to see what I was asking him.

"Uh…you don't want to read that," he said quickly, and came to try to take it.

"Why not?" I asked with a smile as I held it away from him.

"Because it's just stupid ramblings," he said as he leaned over me to grab it. When he couldn't reach it, he pressed himself against me and kissed me, shoving his tongue so far back in my throat that I could have swallowed it.

He used his tongue in my mouth as a distraction, and was able to get the notebook away from me. "Hey, that's cheating," I complained.

"Well, I never promised to play fair," he said with his irresistible grin.

I reached my arms around his body and pulled him closer to me, locking him in place. I then kissed him again while lifting my leg to his crotch, and moving it back and forth erotically so he knew I was ready for round two. He smiled against my lips, and by the hardness caressing my leg, I was sure he felt the same way. We didn't even bother trying to make it to the bedroom that time; we just had sex right there on the couch.

I couldn't get enough of him; I wanted to be permanently fixed to his body and live connected to him forever, but all things come to an end sooner or later - even the most amazing things.

"We need to get you out of here," he whispered after we finally made it to his bed to have sex for the third time. I had no idea what time of day it was, but I was almost asleep in his arms when he disrupted our perfection with reality.

"Oh, right," I said halfheartedly.

He kissed my bare shoulder. "If we don't do it now, I won't be able to get you out for another day and a half and people will start looking for you."

"I'm okay with that," I said honestly.

He laughed silently through his nose, and kissed me again. "Come on, let's hurry."

"Why, do you have some other chick waiting for her turn with you?" I joked.

"Oh yeah, and if you don't leave soon, I won't have time to change the sheets," he joked back…. at least I hoped he was joking.

"Okay," I said grudgingly. I really didn't want to move, and with the continued mysteriousness of the place, I wasn't sure when I was going to see him again.

We got dressed, and then he slowly opened the door and stuck his head outside to see if the hall was clear.

"Why are you being so sneaky?" a voice boomed, scaring the shit out of me.

"Emmett? What the fuck?" Edward said annoyed, and pulled him inside before slamming the door behind him.

"Oh, hey Bella, you're here!" Emmett said with a grin.

"Hey," I said casually.

"Have you guys been fucking?" he asked mercilessly, but he didn't wait for a response before he started hassling us. "So which one did you get?"

"I don't understand," I said honestly.

"Well Edward is like all the seven dwarfs rolled up into one tall lanky dude. There's Happy Edward, Grumpy Edward, Doc," he said with a smile, "Brooding Edward, Sleepy, Uptight, Dickhead Edward, and …." Em started counting his fingers trying to figure out how many of Edward's personalities he named off. "Was that seven?"

"Yeah, but a couple of those names were wrong," I said with a laugh.

Edward was just glaring at him, but Em didn't stop. "I've been telling him that he just needed to get laid for a while now, but that's when the Grumpy Edward comes out and bitches at me. So thanks Bella for bringing Happy Edward back out, I've really missed him."

"Uh…no problem," I said unsure if I was embarrassed or not.

"I mean, I wasn't confident if Happy Edward would ever come back after Heidi went M.I.A.," Emmett said strangely

"Emmett, you're a moron!" Edward said, suddenly becoming angry.

"What? It's the truth. Anyway, do you need help sneaking her out?"

"Yeah, can you just watch the halls?" Edward asked in a clipped tone.

There wasn't anyone around, so we were able to sneak out pretty easily, and I was surprised to find it already dark outside. Em stopped when we reached the compound courtyard, said goodbye, and then Edward and I walked alone the rest of the way.

We didn't speak again until we reached my apartment door, and I was disheartened that he didn't appear to have any intentions of coming inside with me.

"I can make dinner," I said, hoping he was just waiting to be invited in.

"I should be getting back to work, I've missed most of the day already," he said evenly.

"Oh… Well do you want to come here after?" I asked hopefully.

"It'll probably be late."

"I'm ok with that," I told him.

"It's not a good idea, not tonight. But I'll see you around," he said, and then turned and walked away.

A part of my insecure mind wondered if perhaps he got what he wanted and was now blowing me off, but then I remembered Emmett's comment about his multiple personalities. Edward was definitely full of mood swings, so I decided his haste departure had nothing to do with me… at least I hoped it didn't. I was still flying high from our time together and I had to believe we'd repeat it as soon as he was available.

After I showered, I put on some sweats and then called Jessica on the phone.

"Hey, do you have any idea how I can get a hold of a morning-after pill?" I asked her.

"Who did you fuck?" she asked nosily.

"No one," I lied. "I just need one… for a friend."

Besides being unwilling to tell her my personal activities, I knew all too well that the phones were tapped, and the last thing I wanted to do was have strangers knowing.

"Yeah right, you don't have any friends other than me and that odd Alice chick. So fess up, who did you fuck?"

"It's none of your business. You just said we were friends, so as a friend, can you please tell me what I need to know?"

"The pharmacy probably has them. It's behind the movie theater."

"Thanks, Jess," I said and then hung up. I didn't care about changing out of my sweats, so I just put on my sneakers and headed out to hopefully get the pill.

When I got there, however, I found it closed for the night, but it didn't really matter; I knew my body pretty well, and was fairly certain that I wasn't ovulating.

I went back to my apartment and locked the door behind me, before crashing in my bedroom. I was exhausted. The day of strenuous activity certainly tired me out, and just further proved that I needed to exercise more.

I fell asleep with Edward on my mind, and wondered how long it would be until I saw him again. I felt like I had barely closed my eyes when I was awoken by the bright sun glaring through my window, so I turned my head away hoping I could fall back asleep, and then I realized that I wasn't alone.

Edward was lying next to me completely unconscious, and if it wasn't for his gentle breathing noises, I would have wondered he was dead from the stillness of his slumber. I didn't know how he got in because I was sure I had locked the door, but I really didn't care, I was just happy he was there.

I snuggled closer to him, and buried my face in the crook of his neck, inhaling his beautiful scent deep into my lungs. He moaned a little, but then he slowly opened his eyes and looked at me.

"Hey," I said softly.

He smiled at me. "You caught me," he said groggily.

"Was I not supposed to?" I asked pleasantly confused.

"Would you be freaked out if I told you this isn't the first time I've snuck in here when you were sleeping?"

I giggled. "Do you… sneak in here often?" I asked flirtatiously, playing along with his joke.

"From time to time," he said guiltily… Perhaps he wasn't joking after all.

"And what do you do in here?" I asked, trying to determine whether or not I actually should be freaked out a bit.

"You know, drink your milk out of the carton then put it back, spit in your mayo, that sort of stuff," he replied casually.

I laughed again. "Right. Well, I love mayo spit… as long as it's yours, of course."

He chuckled, and then pulled me into him and started kissing me. There was nothing better than waking up to his face, and even his morning breath was delicious, but I couldn't let it get any farther again without bringing up protection.

"Uh… maybe we should get condoms, or something," I said hoping it wouldn't ruin the wonderful mood that I was ecstatic he was in.

He pulled away just like I was worried he would, and he looked at me in a way I didn't understand.

"What?" I asked concerned.

"I … uh… I can't," he mumbled.

"You can't? Oh, are you allergic to latex?" I wondered out loud.

"No, that's not what I meant. I can't… conceive children," he said unexpectedly.

"Oh…. Why?" I asked curiously. "And how would you even know something like that?"

"I got sick when I was younger, and I always knew there was a possibility that it had made me sterile, so when I started working here I had myself tested just to know, and sure enough, I'm shooting blanks," he said with forced casualness, which made me laugh. Our relationship was extremely new so I wouldn't normally think about having future kids with him, but even more than that, I just didn't want them anyway so him being sterile was a win-win. Sex anytime, anywhere, without the hassle of worrying about protection; what could be better than that?

"And I don't have any STDs, but I can still get some condoms if it would make you feel more comfortable," he said after a minute.

"Nope," I replied, and then immediately started removing the shorts that he was inconsiderately wearing…

After having sex yet again, we relaxed side by side, trying to catch our breath, and then I just had to ask...

"Edward?"

"Yeah?"

"How did you get in here?"

"This damn place just has no privacy, does it?" he teased. I huffed letting him know that I was serious. "I may have a key," he admitted sheepishly.

"Let me guess, you have copies of all the keys here, just like all the phones are tapped?"

"Yeah, but I took the only extra key to this apartment, so you don't have to worry about anyone else coming in here."

"No, I'll just a have a sexy creeper come in at anytime, day or night?" I taunted, realizing then that he could very well have been telling the truth and had actually entered my apartment prior to that day… and I honestly didn't even care.

He reached over to my night stand, and then handed me a small silver key. "Here, now you don't have to worry," he said.

I shook my head. "No, keep it. I actually don't mind the creep factor," I told him with a smile, and then went right back to kissing him.


	6. Falling From the Sky

**Chapter 6 – Falling from the Sky**

"So, where are we going for our next outing with the Cullens?" I asked Edward as we both got dressed. I wanted to stay in bed with him all day, but I had already missed too much work and I needed to go into lab before people started noting my absence. Edward said he had things to do too, but left it vague and didn't tell me what.

"Uh…" he thought about it for a moment, and sighed. "It's Alice's turn, so it'll probably be shopping or something to do with cuddly animals."

I giggled. "Not big on shopping?" I assumed.

"Is it that obvious?" he said with a smirk.

I leaned into him and kissed him on the lips, before pulling back but still keeping my arms around him. "Are you coming back here tonight?" I asked him.

"Maybe," he replied. "Do you want me to?"

"Is it that obvious?" I repeated what he had said to me.

He grinned and we kissed again before we walked out of my bedroom hand in hand.

"Hey, so… we need to keep this just between us," Edward said quietly.

"What?" I asked confused.

"Us. This," he clarified by gesturing to our intertwined fingers. "It's just that if Aro found out…. it just wouldn't be good. People talk, so if anyone knows, then he'll be sure to find out."

"But, Emmett knows," I said slightly worried.

"Oh, no, I mean don't tell like that Jessica woman, or any of the other doctors here. And we can't do this," he shook my hand, "around everyone. Emmett and the rest of them pretty much already know, but they're not going to say anything."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. We always keep each other's business to ourselves. We can definitely trust them with this."

I nodded. "But, why would Aro care if we're… together?" I asked uneasily, not sure what our status actually was. Adults had casual sex all the time and meant nothing to each other, but I wanted to be more with Edward, even if most people would never know.

"Well, it's not you, it's me. Because I'm part of the… classified sector, he would automatically think that I was telling you things that I shouldn't. It just wouldn't be good, believe me."

"So, if I was working for the classified sector he wouldn't care? How does one go about becoming a "Cullen" anyway?" I asked, hoping to finally truly understand everything there was to know about him and KRO.

He sighed. "The so called Cullen's were each picked for their… unique attributes. We have been working closely together for years; we've relied on each other, and grown and learned from each other, which is why the five of us trust each other like family. Its not a group just anyone can be a part of – "

"Where did Bree come from then?" I interrupted.

"Bella… I want to tell you everything, I do, but…" He let his sentence trail off and shook his head subtly.

"But you can't," I finished for him disappointedly. As much as I still hated not fully understanding everything, I also knew it wasn't really the time nor place to push the matter.

"There's things about KRO I don't think I can ever tell you. If you want to continue with… whatever this is, that's just the way it has to be," he told me.

"So basically… lots of nondisclosures, and we can only be together in my apartment or when we're out of the compound with the Cullens?" I asked, just to be clear.

"I'm sorry. You deserve so much better than that, but that's all I can give."

I shrugged. "I'm busy in the labs during the day anyway," I said, trying to only focus on the positives about the situation.

"Yeah. By the way, I'm filling back in for Carlisle this afternoon.

"Really?" I asked excitedly.

"Yep, so I'll see you in a few hours," he said while pulling me into him for a sweet kiss, before letting go and walking out my apartment door. Without another word or even a parting smile, he disappeared around the corner and out of sight.

It felt strange to have a secret in that way, and suddenly my mother's voice invaded my mind _\- "If a guy refuses to acknowledge you in public, it's probably because he's married,"_ she'd always say. I knew that wasn't the case with Edward, but it still wasn't the most desirable circumstances, and just one more grudging reminder that there was so much about him and KRO that I will probably never know.

Carlisle was in lab when I first arrived later that morning, but after I ate lunch alone, I couldn't wait to get back to see Edward, even if we couldn't really talk. I got back early hoping for some casual private ogling, but when I got there I heard a woman inside talking to him, so I stayed out of view to listen.

"What you're doing is wrong, Edward. You're risking everything for this girl, and I don't think any of us could survive another catastrophe like before."

"What did you want me to do? Push her out of my apartment and let her get caught? You know what would have happened to her if I did that," Edward said sternly.

"Well," she said nonchalantly. "She shouldn't have been down there. It would have been her own damn fault."

"When the hell did you become so heartless?" Edward seethed.

"Since you almost screwed everything up the last time this happened. Remember Heidi? Or did you already forget her?"

"This is different, and you know it."

"Really? How so? You fall for some doe-eyed chick doctor who came here to find a cure for cancer, only to have her find out the truth, and then she starts blabbing her mouth and screws everything up. How is this situating going to be any different? She was already going to tell her friend over the phone about the link Doctor Vladimir found."

"Bella wouldn't say anything to anyone. And I never fell for Heidi. I knew exactly who she was and I never told her anything. She just… guessed."

"Yeah, she guessed because you showed her too much of yourself." It was quiet for a moment, and then the woman, who I realized was Rosalie, spoke again but much softer. "Look, I understand that you have real feelings for Bella and you've been trying to resist them, hell, we all like her, but she knows you better than she realizes, and if she figures it out…. you know what Aro will do. I just don't want to see you in that kind of pain again."

"Thanks for your concern, but I really don't need it. Everything will be fine, I won't let what happened to Heidi happen to Bella. I will keep her safe."

"You're up against a wall, and you know that. What do you think is going to happen? You're going to marry her, move away and have a house with a white picket fence?"

"I'm not an idiot, Rose. I know I can't ever leave here, but… I tried to stay away from her, and I just couldn't…. It's Alice's fault you know; she should have never invited her out with us. I would have been able to avoid her, and none of this would have happened."

"You're the one who told Alice to befriend her," Rose rebutted.

"Well, she just seemed to spend all her time working, and I didn't want her to miss out on actually living. But I still didn't expect Alice to invite her out. I was thinking they could have lunch every once in awhile or something."

"You know Alice; she sees a lost puppy and wants to bring it home."

Edward laughed. "Remember how upset she got when Carlisle said she couldn't keep it?"

"Ugh, she cried for days."

"Well, my lab starts in a few minutes so you should probably leave," Edward warned her.

"Right. See ya later."

"Oh, wait. How's Jazz doing with the new additive?" Edward asked quickly.

"So far, so good," she replied, and then she started walking towards the door, so I ran to hide around the corner so she didn't see me and know I had been listening. _I seemed to be doing a lot of hiding around corners lately. Not my proudest of recently acquired past times_.

After a minute, I walked back to the lab and pretended that I hadn't heard anything. In truth, I wasn't sure what I had heard. Edward had dated someone who found out some secreted truth, and something happened to her. Besides that, I was still clueless and I was getting frustrated again.

But when I locked eyes with Edward, all my frustrations melted away. I couldn't believe how close I felt to him in such a short time, and when I was near him in public, all I could think about was how badly I wished we were alone.

He smiled at me, but then his face fell serious as Dr. Amun walked through the door. The lab dragged on, and I'd be lying if I said that despite the inhumanly beautiful man running the lab, I was beginning to really miss the mundane normalcy of home. I wasn't sure why Edward told Rose that he could never leave the compound, but if he said to me he was leaving tomorrow, I'd be right next to him on a plane back to the US. I thought I could dedicate my entire life to finding cures, but the more time I spent with Edward and the others outside work, the more I realized I could never be content with not having a personal life again.

When we were finished for the day, I took my time as I packed up my things, and made sure I was the last person in the room besides Edward; however, he didn't speak to me when we were alone, he just walked towards the door. I was sure he was going to leave, but instead he shocked me by locking us both in.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Why, Doctor Cullen, are you planning to seduce me?" I asked in my best attempt to sound innocent.

Edward nodded absently. "Yes. Yes, I am," he said, and then a mischievous grin spread across his face before he rushed to me, and pulled me into him.

"If I give in, will you grant me a raise?" I asked him seductively.

"Well, something will definitely 'rise'," he said suggestively and pressed his erection into me.

"Doctor, I do believe you left your percussion hammer in your pocket," I said, continuing to play along with the innocent theme.

"Oh no, I'm just happy to see you," he joked.

"Well, we need to let your happiness out then," I said and then unbuttoned his pants. I slipped off my pants as well, and he led me back until I was sitting on the desk.

"Do you think Carlisle will care if we have sex on his desk?" I asked as he kissed my neck.

"Probably, so we'll just have to keep it to ourselves," he mumbled against my skin.

For someone who was really worried about getting caught, Edward definitely didn't have any issues about having sex in the lab, and I didn't either. As soon as he pushed into me, I completely forgot everything but him in that moment.

We were still covered on our tops, but as our movements became more desperate, we might as well have been naked. Our hands were completely under the other's shirt, and groping as if there was nothing between us. The tension continued to build until we couldn't hold on for a moment longer, and we climaxed together with an intensity I hadn't experienced before. I couldn't help but consider the fact that each time I was with him, it just got better and better, and I somehow knew without a doubt that it would continue in that way. But we didn't even get a chance to enjoy the numbing afterglow, because just then, we heard someone jiggling the door handle, making my stomach jump into my throat.

"Someone's here," I whispered horrified, so we redressed as quickly as possible.

Edward walked over to the door, and looked back at me to make sure I was decent, before casually opening the door as if nothing had gone on at all.

"It's not normal for you to lock this," a man said as he walked in. It was Carlisle… Shit!

"Sorry," Edward said impassively, and that's when Carlisle noticed me.

"Ah, I see," he said, and then looked at Edward knowingly. "Just remember that we have a mandatory meeting tonight."

"I remember," Edward assured him.

Carlisle put his hand on Edward's shoulder, and looked at him sternly. "Be careful!" he warned, and Edward nodded. Carlisle gave me a parting head tilt, and then walked back out of the room.

"Are we in trouble?" I asked like a teen that had just been caught by their parent.

"Nah, Carlisle's cool," Edward said unfazed. "It's Aro and Keller that we have to worry about."

"Why do you call him 'Carlisle' if he's your father?" I asked curiously as I brushed the wrinkles out of my pants and adjusted my bra.

"Well, he raised me, taught me everything I know… but I was adopted. I call him dad every once in awhile, but I still remember my biological parents so it's a little strange for me."

"What happened to them… your parents, I mean?" I asked him. I wasn't really surprised that he was adopted, the truth was that he didn't look anything like Carlisle, and their personalities were completely different.

"It wasn't a good situation and they just couldn't take care of me anymore. So they relinquished their rights and thankfully Carlisle found me," he explained.

"How old were you?"

"Uh…." he thought for a moment. "It was a long time ago," was all he'd say, and then he quickly changed the subject. "Let's go get something to eat before I have to go to my meeting with Carlisle."

"Okay," I said, once again disappointed with his continued vagueness. We strolled at a casual distance to the cafeteria, and after getting our food, he headed towards the table where the Cullens were currently sitting, and to avoid gossip, I went and sat with Jessica. Edward didn't ask me to sit away from him, and by the confused expression on his face, it was obvious that he wasn't expecting me to either.

The moment I sat down, Jess started running her mouth.

"So, did you get the pill?" she asked in a loud whisper.

"No, like I told you on the phone, it wasn't for me," I said annoyed.

"Right, and I'm a natural blond," she said sarcastically.

"You are?" I asked as if she was serious.

"Oh, come on, it's driving me crazy. Who are you fucking?" she whined.

"Okay look, it was a one-time thing, and I'm really embarrassed about it because the guy wasn't hot. So can you just drop it please," I lied, just to shut her up.

"Well, I didn't think the guy was hot," Jess said rudely, and then she realized her mistake. "I just mean, it's not like you're Lauren or Gianna or anything…. I just mean, normal girls usual hook up with normal guys." She huffed realizing that she wasn't becoming any nicer with her comment. "Look, it's good to be normal. Beautiful people are always being judged and considered stupid just because they have big breasts and care about their makeup. You don't have to worry about that, and everyone knows you're smart."

"Wow, ok… so I'm ugly, and only ugly guys would want to sleep with me?" I asked incredulously. Even if that's how I viewed myself, I had never been called that to my face, and it did actually sting a bit.

"No, that's not what I meant; it all came out wrong. I don't think you're ugly, you just don't stand out the way some of us do."

"Oh, okay," I said slightly offended but not really caring at the same time.

"You know what I mean. You're pretty, in a Plain Jane, girl next door kind of way."

"Jess… just stop," I said irritated. I knew I wasn't some beauty queen, but what I also knew was that the most gorgeous man I had ever seen wanted me, so I really didn't care what women like Jessica said or thought.

"Hey Bella, Edward Cullen keeps looking over here," Jess whispered after a few awkward minutes. I looked over my shoulder, but then she hissed at me. "No, don't look! God, he's been ogling me the whole time I've been sitting here."

Sure, he was.

"See, that's what I mean, Bella, you don't have to worry about a guy like Edward Cullen," Jess said, digging herself in even deeper. "He's gorgeous, and also for an unknown reason, unattainable. But he's obviously attracted to me and we could never be together. That's a heartache that just shouldn't exist."

"Right," I said, letting her believe anything she wanted because it didn't really matter.

She looked past me again, and straight at Edward. "Ah, he's leaving," she said disappointedly.

I turned around just in time to see Edward walk out of the cafeteria alone, and I wondered why the rest of the Cullens weren't leaving for the meeting as well.

Since Edward was gone, and I had lost my appetite due to Jessica's insults, I decided it was time for me to leave as well. "See you later," I said, and got up to go, but Jess stopped me.

"Where are you going?" she asked me nosily.

"To bed," I told her.

"It's early. It's not even dark out yet," she stated the obvious.

"I know, but I didn't get much sleep last night, so I'm tired."

"What, were you having nightmares?" she asked sarcastically.

"No, I was fucking my lover," I said in a joking manner.

"Oh, I knew it!" she yelled after me as I walked away. "You fucking whore!" I took her derogatory comment as a loving joke which Jessica was famous for, and I let it go. Her opinion meant nothing, and I refused to waste another second thinking about it.

I decided to head back to my apartment to wait for Edward to be finished with his meeting, but the moment I stepped out of the cafeteria, I was grabbed and pulled into the alley between two buildings. I gasped out of surprise, but I didn't have time to let a noise escape my lips, because suddenly Edward Cullen's mouth was smothering mine - Not that I was upset at all by that turn of events.

"I hate watching you from across the room," he said breathlessly as he continued to try to suffocate me with his kisses. "Why didn't you sit with us?"

"You're the one who said we had to keep this private," I rebutted against his lips.

"I meant we couldn't make it obvious, not that we couldn't sit together."

I smiled as his kisses trailed down my neck and his hand took hold of my breast.

"If I randomly started sitting with the mysterious Cullen's, people would definitely talk," I assured him.

He paused his desperate movements to sweetly rest his head against mine. "You know I want to be with you all the time, don't you?"

I reached up and stroked his face tenderly. "I want to be with you all the time too."

He kept his head on mine for another few moments, just breathing together softly and cherishing the moment, and then desperation set back in once again.

Edward was an extremely passionate lover, and I still couldn't believe that I was able to bring that out of him. I had no way of knowing how he was with other women before me, but I liked to think that he was able to reach a whole other level of intensity with me, as I had with him. It may have been a stupid fantasy, but it was still something I would allow myself to believe.

People walked past as we were eagerly undoing each other's pants, but none looked our way, and I wasn't worried that they would either. We were in a dark space, and there wasn't any reason for someone to even stop there, so we continued on as if we were the only two people on the compound.

I was a completely different person with Edward than I ever was before. When I was with him, I didn't care about anything or anyone else. I felt sexy, and desired. The world could be crumbling down around us, and I wouldn't have noticed. If Edward Cullen wanted me, then I couldn't have been so bad… at least that's what I kept telling myself.

….

For the next two weeks, we happily memorized every inch of each other's body. We found ways to sneak off and have quickies throughout the day, and at night he'd meet me at my apartment for even more lovemaking until we'd end up falling asleep in each other's arms.

But it wasn't all just sex; we actually spent a lot of time talking as well. We avoided the secretive aspect of what he did when he wasn't with me, but he told me other things like all his favorites. I knew his favorite food, color, movie, song, but despite the things I learned, I still felt like I was missing a major detail of his past. When I'd ask him about his childhood or his biological family, he'd become very quiet and distant, and then promptly change the subject. It was odd, but like many other aspects of him, I figured that if I left it alone, it would come out eventually.

Before I knew it, we were meeting the others at the gate for another outing. With it being Alice's turn to pick, I wasn't worried about the day's activity, but I was nervous as to how they'd all treat me knowing Edward and I were together.

When we got to the SUV, we climbed in to the spots we had the time before, and everyone said hello before talking like nothing had changed even though I was sure they all knew.

"Bella, do you like to shop?" Emmett asked me.

"Uh… it's not my favorite thing to do," I replied carefully, unsure where his question was leading.

"See Alice? Not all women like to shop," Emmett said to her.

"I never said we were shopping. Just because that's what we did the last time I picked, doesn't mean I want to do it again," Alice rebutted.

"Hey now, whatever Alice picks to do, we'll do. No complaining," Jasper scolded Emmett.

"I know, I know," Em agreed.

"Hey, where's Bree?" I asked, wondering why the newest member of their group wasn't there.

Everyone was quiet for a moment. "Uh… she wasn't ready to come with us," Rose responded awkwardly. "You know, still settling in and all. Maybe next time."

As the car hit the highway, Edward grabbed my hand, and I responded by leaning into him and resting my head against his shoulder.

We only drove for about fifteen minutes before we turned into an airport.

"Another copter ride?" Rosalie asked.

"Nope, but we are flying!" Alice said excitedly.

When we pulled up to a building, we all gasped from reading the sign….

 _ **Volterra Skydiving**_

"Oh shit!" Rose yelled.

"Uh… I don't know if the little planes can hold me," Emmett said anxiously.

"Why Em, are you scared?" I teased him.

"NO!" he said a little too quickly. "I'm not afraid of anything. I'm just worried about the rest of you, that's all."

"Uh-huh, sure," I said with a smile. Even though I had gotten over my fear of heights with the zip lining excursion, jumping out of an airplane was still definitely a concern, but if that's what they were all doing, then so was I. I wanted so badly to be accepted by them that I refused to make a fuss about anything again. The emotions I felt for Edward were stronger than I ever felt before, and I couldn't see that changing anytime soon, so being in with his so-called family was a necessity.

"Oh come on, we've all talked about doing it before, and now we will," Alice defended her choice.

"Are you sure you don't want to go shopping? You know, you won't get another chance to pick for awhile," Emmett tried changing her mind.

"No way, this is going to be awesome," Edward chimed in.

"Are you kidding?" Jasper asked him.

"No. I'm looking forward to it." Edward said sincerely.

We all went inside and sat through a twenty minute instructional video, and then we suited up and boarded the plane.

"Are you scared?" Edward asked me.

"Yes," I said honestly.

"You don't have to do it," he reminded me.

"Yes, I do. I'll be fine, I promise," I assured him. Since we weren't licensed to skydive, we weren't allowed to go alone, so we were all paired with experienced professional skydivers who we were hooked to. I was happy I had someone there with me, but I couldn't help but wish that I was attached to Edward the way we were for the zip lining instead.

When we flew up to proper altitude, they opened the door and Alice and her partner went first. My heart pounded as I saw her little body get smaller and smaller the further down she got, and then her parachute opened and we all took a deep breath of relief.

Edward kissed me and then he went next, so before I had a chance to chicken out, I decided to go after him. As I stood on the ledge ready to jump, I wondered how the hell I got myself into that situation. I was terrified to zip line, and skydiving was going to be so much worse. I felt sick as my partner counted us down in Italian, but when he got to 'Uno', I closed my eyes and let him push me out of the plane.

My stomach had completely left my body, and the wind was whooshing so fast in my face that it was hard to breathe, but then I took a chance and opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was the world coming at me at an alarming rate, but then I saw Edward below me and his parachute had just opened, so I realized that it going to be ok. My partner pulled the cord and we jerked up as our parachute opened, slowing our descent.

I looked out and tried to enjoy the view, but all I kept thinking was about was how scared I was, and perhaps it had nothing to do with falling from the sky, at least not literally.

My relationship with Edward wasn't much different from skydiving. I never fell so fast for anyone in my life, and I realized then what a huge risk I was taking. Edward was still unknown to me, something entirely new, and I was positive that if I didn't pull the cord and slow down my feelings for him, I was sure to hit the ground hard and I'd never be the same.

But when we finally landed, and Edward was waiting there for me with a huge grin on his face, I knew it was hopeless. I couldn't resist him, and I really didn't want to either. I already jumped, now there was nothing left to do but enjoy the ride and hopefully no one would get hurt.

"You did it!" Edward cheered.

My partner helped me out of my harness so I was no longer attached to him, and then I ran to Edward and he wrapped me in his arms. It felt so good to be safe on the ground with him, and though I'd never want to do it again, I definitely felt a sense of accomplishment. If it hadn't been for Edward, I surely would have never had the guts to do any of it.

I sat in his lap as we watched the rest of the Cullens come soaring down from the sky. Alice was bouncing next to us and talking a mile a minute about how excited she was, and I couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm.

Surprisingly, everyone seemed to have a great experience with it, but Alice was the only one who said she'd like to do it again one day.

We stopped and had dinner at a nearby restaurant, which had a large gift shop, so Alice got to do some shopping after all.

I didn't know it then, but that would be our last outing. Within the next two weeks, everything changed and I would never look at the world the same again….


	7. Through the Looking Glass

**Chapter 7 – Through the Looking Glass** ~

I never thought I could be so happy, especially being basically stuck on the compound. Besides the few times when I went out with the Cullen's, I had yet to leave the KRO grounds, but being there with Edward made the burden of not leaving much more bearable. As long as he was with me, I could have stayed locked in the confines of my apartment for weeks straight and I would have actually enjoyed the solitude with him.

"I love you," I whispered one night after making love. I didn't mean to say it, and I really hoped he didn't hear me because he seemed to be sleeping.

He didn't respond, and he didn't move; his breathing even stayed consistent, so I took a sigh of relief. We hadn't been a couple very long, and besides always being together whenever we weren't working, we had never talked about our relationship status or our plans for the future. He seemed to enjoy being with me, and he looked at me like I was the most amazing thing on the planet, but I had no idea how he really felt or what he wanted from me long term.

His words to Rosalie still haunted me - 'I know I can never leave here,' - he had told her, and it was absolutely killing me not knowing what that meant. If I thought about what I really wanted, it was to leave KRO, but if for some reason he really couldn't, I wondered if I'd be willing to stay indefinitely with him. At the moment, I couldn't imagine leaving him behind.

I peacefully drifted off to sleep in his arms, but we didn't sleep for long. At one thirty in the morning there was a banging on the door. My eyes snapped open, and Edward sat up in bed and looked at me confused.

"Is that the door?" he asked me, still half asleep.

"Yeah, I think so. That's odd," I said before getting up and dressing quickly. As soon as Edward put his pants on, I went to open the door. "Emmett?" I said surprised.

"Sorry Bella, but it's an emergency," he apologized while pushing past me. "Let's go, bro. We need you," he then said to Edward anxiously.

"What happened?" Edward asked as he put on his shoes.

"It's Bree," Em whispered meaningfully.

"What's wrong with Bree?" I asked concerned, but neither of them answered me. Edward clearly understood immediately, and he finished getting ready at a quicker pace. "Edward, is there anything I can do?" I asked, but he still didn't answer and just followed Emmett out without another word.

I stood there dumbfounded for a few minutes, and then I sat and opened a book. I knew I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep after that, so I decided to just read until Edward came back.

But he didn't come back.

When the sun finally rose, I showered and got dressed before going into lab, and to my surprise, Carlisle wasn't there, and neither was Edward. There was no replacement; we all just went about our business as usual, and no one even mentioned anything about the lack of a team leader.

Even when Edward didn't work in lab with me, he usually came out from wherever he did work to discreetly visit me or have a quickie, but I didn't see him all day. That night I waited, but he never showed either.

A week and a half went by without any contact, and besides having Edward withdraws, I was incredibly worried, not only for Bree, but for all of them. Something was definitely wrong, and once again, my stupid concerned curiosity got the better of me.

I walked over to the door of the 'secret' warehouse, and stood there hoping someone would come or go. I waited for three hours before someone I didn't recognize swiped their card and went inside, so I made a mad dash to catch the door before it locked behind him. I vaguely considered the fact that the security was actually extremely lax for being such a top secret area, then again, the entire compound seemed to know the repercussions of asking too many questions and poking around where they shouldn't, so perhaps security figured no one was as big of an idiot to sneak in the way I was about to do for the second time.

I hesitated before going in as I remembered what Edward had said about the danger of me being there, but then I continued on. I needed to figure everything out once and for all. If I wasn't so worried about my friends I probably would have been able to talk myself out of going, but as it stood, I couldn't just sit by and wait for them a moment longer.

I went into the elevator, and looked at the buttons, trying to consider what they could mean. There were no numbers, just letters, and since I had pushed the A button the last time I was there and it turned out to be apartments, I decided to press the L button which I hoped would take me to the lab where Edward said they did the testing.

When the door opened, I exited the elevator into another long hallway, but I was actually in luck - there were scrubs, surgical hats, and face masks hanging on a peg, so I grabbed some and put them on right before someone walked by. The woman nodded a greeting, and I did the same and turned to follow her.

"Are you Doctor Carmen Lopez?" the woman asked me.

"Yes," I responded without hesitation. The mask concealed my identity perfectly, and thankfully the woman was in a rush and didn't stop to check my ID.

"They've been waiting for you," she told me quickly.

"Sorry, I got held up," I replied as confidently as possible.

She swiped her card in another slot, and a thick sliding door opened, so we both walked in. Inside was a huge room full of lit cases, and each case contained something different and extremely odd.

There was a human hand in one; in another, a human heart. There were dozens of cases full of human and animal body parts, and even some prosthetic limbs. But that wasn't what I was surprised by; I was surprised by the genetic maps they had on display. Each one was far more advanced than I had ever seen before, and I was shocked that the discoveries that were present there had yet to be made public. It was astonishing.

"Oh, my god," I said quietly in awe as I stared at the maps.

"Doctor Lopez, please. We must hurry!" the woman said to me frustrated.

"Right, sorry," I said and continued to follow her.

We went into another secured area, and it took me a minute to fully process what I was seeing. It was yet another hall, but this one was different, it was full of observatory windows. I started glancing in the windows as I walked past, and saw that each one contained what looked surgical rooms full of doctors. There were five rooms in that particular hall, but I was taken to the one farthest back.

Once inside, I noted that there were four other doctors present, and they were working on a patient who was fully sedated.

"This is file number 2542 . Subject is suffering from Schulin Syndrome - stiffening of the extremities, and mental deterioration. Subject couldn't speak or walk until the additive of B compound 14….."

The woman kept describing the patient's diagnoses, but I couldn't help but tune her out because I felt like I was falling again. To this woman, the patient was just a number and a technical disease, but to me… she was Alice.

I didn't understand what was going on, or maybe I didn't want to understand so I refused to believe the obvious. But how could someone so happy and energetic like Alice, end up in that state with such a horrifying disease? A memory of Jasper giving her a shot during the shark diving trip flashed before me, but everything was still so confusing that I couldn't concentrate for very long. I started breathing heavily as my emotions took over, and I couldn't handle it anymore. I backed to the door, hoping to escape before I broke down.

"Doctor Lopez?" the woman asked confused when she noticed my erratic behavior.

"I just need a minute," I said in a broken voice.

I left the room, but before I could lose it, I happened to look into the next window and saw the doctors in there working on another patient I recognized - it was Emmett. I walked into the room, and the doctors looked up at me. "Doctor Lopez?" one of them asked me. All I did was nod, so he started describing Emmett's condition.

"This is file number 3638; he is suffering from Myotonic Dystrophy, which is a terminal form of muscular dystrophy. Subject has responded well to genetic replacement and therapy, but remains unstable."

"Uh-huh," I said mechanically. "I need to check on the others," I croaked and then left the room.

I walked down the hall and felt like my whole world was coming crashing down as I let myself realize what was happening. Each of the Cullens were actually patients and being treated for rare medical disorders, but that just didn't make sense. Emmett was the strongest person I knew, how could he have a form of muscular dystrophy? And Alice was so flexible and limber, how could she have a disease that caused stiffening of the limbs? I understood then that each of the five rooms contained one of my friends, and I suddenly became terrified for Edward.

I frantically checked the remaining rooms, and found Rosalie and Jasper. Rose had a disease that caused facial disfigurements, tremors, and paralysis, and Jasper had a disease where a chromosome attacks the senses resulting in blindness, deafness, loss of smell, and the inability to feel anything.

I realized that the last room must have been Edward, so in a panic, I pushed my way into the room and I nearly fell over from hyperventilating.

"Edward!" I cried out as I looked at the person lying on the table unconscious….. but it wasn't him, it was Bree.

"Bella? What the hell are you doing?" one of the masked doctors asked. I couldn't see his face, but I would never mistake his striking green eyes or the sound of his voice – even if it was angry. Edward put down what he was doing, rushed over to grab my arm, and pulled me out of the room forcefully. "What the fuck are you doing down here?" he asked irately.

"I..I…I.." I couldn't speak. So many emotions were running through me, and I had so many questions, but my mind was jumbled and I couldn't pick just one. I felt like I had stepped through Alice in Wonderland's looking glass and the whole world became different. Everything I thought I knew was wrong.

"I told you not to come back! You ruined everything, do you realize that?" he said enraged. Before I could respond, he pulled me down the hall and into the elevator. We both stayed quiet while he fumed next to me, and when the doors opened again, he pulled be out and into a small room.

"Stay here, I'll be back," he said sternly, and then he went out and locked me in. I couldn't think straight; my mind was moving a mile a minute, and I had no idea what was going to happen next.

Edward was gone for about a half hour, and when he came back he just sat in the seat next to me, and put his head in his hands as he seemingly tried to control his anger. I had so many questions and had a million things I wanted to say, but I just stayed quiet until I thought he was ready for me to talk.

"What were you thinking?" he finally asked through gritted teeth.

 _I wasn't_ – I wanted to say, but I didn't see how that would get us anywhere, so I decided to respond with a question of my own.

When I tried to speak, however, I struggled to find my voice.

"They… they are all… sick?" I asked hoarsely. "And what? You're experimenting on them?" Suddenly, I was angry. "How could you? Do they even know? They're your friends… you called them your family."

"Look, you have no idea what you're talking about, or what you saw," he fumed.

"Oh, I think I have a pretty good idea," I rebutted. "You told me before that everything down here is illegal, and I assumed you meant testing on animals or something, but no, you're testing on people, on your friends!"

"Without that testing," he argued heatedly, "none of them would ever be able to do half the things they can do. They would all be helpless or probably dead. That testing has given them lives that they could have never even comprehended before. We're saving them, and yes, the experiments that are being conducted are illegal, but it's worth it."

"What's wrong with them now then? They were fine several days ago, why have they all relapsed?"

"They haven't, and they were never fine. Our scientists have discovered a compound - an enzyme that allows them to function for a few days at a time. Then they 'relapse', as you say. We're trying to find something more permanent," he explained.

"One enzyme that helps all of their different diseases?" I asked in disbelief.

"No, we've made thousands of different enzymes, and tested them on dozens of different patients over the years, but they are the only ones who have had any recurring form of success with them."

"And Bree?" I questioned.

He shook his head, and then took a deep breath as he seemed to calm down a bit. "We thought Bree was going to be a success like the others, but she won't respond anymore, and the last enzyme actually put her in cardiac arrest. We're still working on her, but…." He shook his head again. "I think they're going to remove her from the program soon."

"Who's 'they'? Who's in charge of choosing that sort of thing?" I asked appalled.

"Who do you think?" he replied evenly.

"Aro and Carlisle?" I assumed.

"Carlisle is the head doctor here, but he doesn't make any of those decisions."

"If they are all okay with the testing being done on them, then why is it so secretive?" I asked trying to calm down as well.

"It's not legal…. and not all of them agreed to the testing."

"What?" I asked with my anger returning full force.

"How could they have agreed? They weren't physically or mentally capable of making those decisions, or even understanding them." Edward took another deep breath. "Emmett, Jasper, and Rosalie all lived in separate adult care facilities. They had no family who cared what happened to them, and they had no future whatsoever. It was Carlisle's job to find people with their particular diseases, so he paid the facilities they were in, and he was given custody."

"He bought them?" I asked horrified.

"Yes."

"And what about Alice and Bree?" I asked.

"Alice was put up for adoption when she was three. She grew up in a special needs orphanage, and when she was fifteen, Carlisle found her and she was adopted under the assumption that she would be cared for, not experimented on. Alice was the first patient that Carlisle and I worked on together; Rosalie came next, and then Emmett and Jasper a few years later. Last year, we discovered an enzyme for Biomidyn Disease, and when we found Bree, she was the perfect candidate for the procedure. Her parents couldn't afford health care, so she went into the system, and now she's here. Unfortunately for her, and many others like her, she won't be cured," he said emotionlessly.

I shook my head slowly. "How can you just turn off your emotions like that? You love these people, I've seen you with them."

"You went through medical school and worked with patients before going into genetics, didn't you ever learn how to do that?" he said coldly.

"Yes, to not get emotionally involved, but I know you love all of them like your family."

"Out there, yes. But in here… it's just work. They understand that, and expect it."

A tear dropped from my eye, but I quickly wiped it away.

"How did all this get started?" I asked, figuring he had no reason to keep those secrets from me anymore.

"Carlisle's wife, Esme, was suffering from a genetic disease, so he threw every last second he was capable of into trying to find a cure. Aro and Keller were interns with him, and decided to help. They came from rich families so they were able to fund the research for awhile, but they were never as smart as Carlisle, so they mainly handled the business side of things. Carlisle worked for five years, but instead of finding a way to save his wife, he found a cure for a different disease, and that was the real beginning of KRO. He couldn't save his wife, but he's made so many advancements, and without him, none of us would be here."

"How did you get involved?"

"After he made his first big discovery, he was able to take some time for one of his wife's unfulfilled wishes to adopt a child. Of course, I was brought up around all of this stuff so it was a natural progression for me to begin working here. Later we discovered the enzymes for the others together… so all we had to do was put them to the test. Other patients came before them, and others came after, but the 'Cullens' are the only ones who are able to keep coming back to somewhat normal functioning, and we're trying to figure out why."

"So, the every two week activity thing is what? A way to live in the short amount of time that they are able to control their own bodies for?" I asked with the tears streaming down my face again. "And, you're like… their babysitter or something?"

Edward stared at me for a long moment, and then looked away. "I'm not their babysitter, I… just… I take care of them," he said quietly. "Because I've treated them for so long, I understand them and their needs."

"How could you possibly understand them?" I asked sourly. "How could any of us truly understand them? Have they said what it's like for them when they can't… function the way they want to?"

"It's different for everyone. Emmett and Jasper both remember when they are in their natural state, which is why they aspire to be the opposite when they can be. Em spends a lot of time in the gym, trying to strengthen his muscles for when the disease takes over. Jazz just wants to feel like a person; see everything he can see, taste everything, listen to music. Alice doesn't remember anything at all, and that's why she is very childlike sometimes. The amount of time she remembers living is very short. But she is an adult now, and she has adult desires. Her and Jasper together is actually a really good match."

"And Rose?" I asked.

"Without the enzyme, her muscles constrict and cause disfigurement, and she becomes paralyzed. She can't remember everything when she's like that because of something that occurs in her brain. We're trying to figure out her disease, but we've never seen her particular variation before, and we're just lucky that the enzyme works as much as it does."

"Cullen!" someone shouted from the other side of the door, making me jump. "I know the woman is in there with you!"

I watched as Edward scrunched his face and closed his eyes in defeat, and I suddenly became even more afraid than I was before.

"What are they going to do to me?" I asked him quietly.

He shook his head. "Nothing, I won't let them do anything," he said determined. "Stay here."

"Wait, you're leaving me?" I asked in a panic.

"I need to go talk to Aro. Don't be afraid."

"Edward, what happened to Heidi?" I asked him quickly, realizing that whatever did happen was probably similar to my situation.

He stopped and turned around to face me as if he was stunned that I knew. "Who told you about her?"

"I overheard you and Rose talking," I confessed.

He sighed. "She found out something that she shouldn't have, and Aro had her removed… But you actually saw it, and things are going to be a whole lot worse for you," he said in an unrecognizable tone.

"Cullen, open the fucking door. Now!" - The yelling outside continued.

"Stay here," Edward warned again.

He opened the door, and then I could see that it was Dimitri and Felix waiting outside.

"Aro wants the girl in his office now!" Felix said.

"Go to hell," Edward said unfazed, and walked past them.

"We have to take her," Dimitri emphasized, but instead of coming in after me, he turned and followed Edward. However Felix stayed outside the room, and just stared at me with a smirk plastered on his face.

After about an hour, Felix was still there basically guarding me, but he looked extremely bored and was picking at his finger nails.

"Felix?" I asked hesitantly.

"No funny business," he said without looking up.

"I was just wondering if you knew Heidi?" I asked him. I had no reason to believe he'd give me a straight answer either way, but asking was better than just sitting there blankly.

"Of course, we all know what happened to her," he said casually.

"And what's that?"

Felix smirked, and then he took his index finger and slid it across the lower part of his neck indicating that she was killed. I wasn't surprised; I had figured that happened by the way Edward warned me about being caught down there before, but I still didn't understand the point. There was no reason to murder the woman for discovering that they were doing experiments. There had to be something else, something I still hadn't figured out yet.

Another hour passed, and I suddenly started feeling extremely sick. I wasn't surprised. I already knew that my nausea was a result of nerves and a lack of food for the day, not to mention I was PMSing, so I was irritable and bloated on top of everything else.

"Felix, can you get me some crackers, or something?" I asked him.

"No," he said simply.

"Please, I'm really hungry. I haven't eaten all day and now my stomach is killing me."

"Well, it won't for much longer," he snickered.

"What does that mean?" I asked but fearing that I already knew.

"You found out the truth, and now they're going to kill you. Do you think Heidi was the first? This is a multibillion dollar company, and there is no way they are going to let someone go who may, or may not, run their mouths about what they saw. If anyone found out, we'd be shut down and they're not about to let that happen."

"There are dozens of people working down here. You mean to tell me that none of them know the truth? What makes them different than me?" I asked in a panic.

"They were all hired for their specific expertise, and are paid extremely well. They have no reason to tell anyone anything. You, on the other hand, are expendable."

That did it, I needed to vomit.

"Uh…" Felix must have noticed the way I turned green, so out of nowhere, he handed me what looked like a mop bucket. I grabbed it and held it under my mouth, but the fact that I hadn't eaten anything in several hours, just made it all worse. I threw up water, and when I couldn't do that anymore, I dry heaved for ten minutes.

"What the fuck did you do to her?" I heard Edward say protectively as he rushed through the door.

"Nothing, she just went pale and started hurling," Felix replied.

Edward's cool hand caressed the back of my neck and my forehead, and then he scooped me up in his arms and started carrying me somewhere.

"I can't let you take her anywhere," Felix said with authority.

"Relax, he has permission," another voice said, probably Dimitri.

"Boss is really going to let her go?" I heard Felix question as we moved away.

"Nope, she's not going anywhere," Dimitri replied with a laugh.

I didn't know where Edward was taking me, but I didn't really care at that point either. I was feeling so weak from the vomiting that I could hardly keep my eyes open.

"What happened to her," someone else said as we entered another area.

"I don't know. When I went back to get her she was like this. It's probably just nerves, right?"

"More than likely. Miss Swan, how long have you been feeling sick?" I lifted my head and saw Carlisle there, looking down on me.

"Uh… just a few hours, or so," I responded.

Carlisle placed his hand on my forehead, and then sighed. "She doesn't have a fever, I'm sure she's just stressed. Go lie her in my room, and I'll check on her in a little while."

Edward nodded and then carried me to a back room. I realized then that I must have been in Carlisle s personal apartment, but I wasn't exactly sure why.

He laid me down gently on the bed, and I soon lost consciousness. I had no idea how long I was asleep for, but when I woke back up I was alone. I got out of bed and looked around at Carlisle's unremarkably decorated room, and then sighed before walking back out to the living room to try to open the front door, but I was unsurprisingly locked in. There was no getting out, and I had no choice but to await my fate, so I just sat there blankly and stared at the white wall in front of me.

The next thing I knew, five hours had passed, and Edward and Carlisle finally came back.

"Oh good, you're awake," Carlisle said as they came into the room.

"What's going on? Are they really going to kill me over this?" I asked incredulously.

"You have to understand something," Carlisle said softly. "If anyone ever found out…."

"Yeah, I know, it would be the end of KRO and everyone would lose a lot of money. I already heard that, and I suppose life means nothing when money is at stake. I thought you were all doctors," I said bitterly.

"It would be more than just the end of KRO and the loss of billions of dollars," Carlisle continued, trying to make me comprehend the repercussions of my new found knowledge. "Unfortunately, many patients, including minors, have succumbed to their diseases while here, and some have passed as a direct result of our experiments."

I nodded. "No, I get it. You guys are murderers. You'd be more than out of jobs, you would all be in jail for killing children and people with disabilities."

"Sometimes sacrifices have to be made –"

"Don't you dare tell me that sacrifices have to be made for the greater good bullshit!" I cut him off. "Tell that to those being sacrificed! It would be one thing if these patients knew the risks and agreed to the testing, but Edward already admitted most didn't!"

Carlisle turned his head and shot Edward a disappointed expression for letting me in on that bit of information, and then he turned back to me. "Miss Swan, you have to understand…"

"I understand enough!" I snapped at him.

"Bella, please, just listen," Edward tried calming me, but I was done; I refused to sit there and let them continue to try to convince me just how justified their unethical work was.

"So what's going to happen to me then? Lethal injection? Death by firing squad? What?" I asked heatedly.

"I'm not going to let anyone hurt you," Edward said with conviction.

"Well, it's obvious that I'll never be able to leave either, or even contact anyone outside in any way," I said frustrated.

"Aro is already having the letter drawn up," Edward mumbled quietly.

"What letter?"

"The letter to your family saying that you… were involved in an accident," Edward answered remorsefully. "I'm so sorry, Bella."

"No. No! They can't do that!" I yelled with hot tears wetting my face from the thought of my father reading that letter. I was his only child, his only family, and I couldn't leave him permanently, not like that. I also thought about my mother; her emotions were already so fragile that I didn't know how she'd survive another loss.

"Look, you're going to be fine. You just can't ever leave here. It's the best deal I could make," Edward told me, with an awful attempt at sounding encouraging.

"How can you be a part of this?" I asked him angrily, but I meant it to be directed towards both of them. "They're human beings, and you're treating them like lab rats; I'm a human being, and you have taken all my rights away. You've taken my life from me!"

"There's nothing else we can do, I'm sorry," Carlisle said regretfully, and then left the apartment. Edward stayed and stared at me for a moment, before taking a step forward as if he wanted to comfort me.

I put my finger up to stop his advance. "Don't touch me!" I snapped. Not only was my family going to think that I was dead, but KRO's lack of compassion for human life was appalling, and he was a part of it; I was absolutely livid. I didn't know what I was getting myself into by going to work there, but he knew what was going on and went along with it, and even defended their actions.

Everything about the situation made my skin crawl, and if he were to touch me in that moment, I was sure to throw punches and that was the last thing I wanted to do. So many excuses, and none of them were worth anything. I was so stupid and blind to just look the other way at things, but I refused to be ignorant anymore.

"I never wanted any of this to happen," Edward murmured. "I know I can't make it right, but I truly am sorry."

"Just leave me alone," I said hollowly has my tears dried into a salty crust on my face. I was done crying, at least for the time being. I just felt numb.

He nodded and then hesitantly walked out of the room, locking it behind him - locking me in, just as I would be for whatever was left of my meaningless existence.


	8. Discovering Blotches

**Chapter 8 – Discovering Blotches~**

I had been stuck in Carlisle's apartment for almost three weeks, and I began to wonder where he was staying, because he certainly wasn't staying with me. In the time I spent there, I had gotten to know every inch of that apartment; one bedroom with a huge closet, a bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub, and a decent sized kitchen. There were thousands of people in New York City who would kill for such accommodations, but upon closer inspection, there were a lot of downfalls as well. The large flat screen only showed classic TV, or I could always watch a DVD, but the only ones to choose from were old westerns. Every room was painted white, with nothing but white linens and even white dishes - I was beginning to feel like I was in a loony bin instead of a personal residence. But above everything else, the worst part of the prison I was currently calling home was the fact that there were absolutely no windows. I supposed with it being an underground facility that made sense, but it was seriously depressing to never be able to see the natural sunlight or feel the warm breeze on my skin.

Three times a day I'd get a hot meal from the cafeteria brought down to me on a tray, and twice a week I'd get groceries delivered, such as snacks, toilet paper, cleaning supplies etc. Felix and Dimitri were always there every time the door was opened, just to make sure that I wasn't going to escape. But really, what the hell did they think I was going to do? Knock out the delivery boy and then steal his ID card? Who did they think I was, Jane Bond?

I was really going stir crazy though, and I wondered how long I could stand being locked inside before I started begging them to just put me out of my misery. Carlisle did come and check to make sure I was feeling better, which I was, but besides him, the delivery boy, and the two idiotic guards, I was completely alone.

Edward never came back, and I really didn't expect him to either. I was upset that he had gone along with everything, but the truth was that he asked me not to ever come back down, and I betrayed his trust and came anyway. He was extremely upset with me, and when he calmed down, I pushed him away. What he was doing with his research and experiments was wrong, but so was what I did, and I didn't blame him for wanting nothing to do with me anymore.

I wasn't sure what I missed the most; fresh air, talking to my family on the phone, or just being with Edward. But it wasn't really a question, because I knew I'd never miss anyone or anything more than him. I was in love with him despite everything, and that wasn't something I could think around or try to escape. It was always there, festering just under the surface of my skin, aching to break free. I tried not to feel it; I tried not to feel anything because my life was over. What I was doing in that apartment wasn't living, and there were so many times that I actually did wish Edward would have just let them kill me.

Despite knowing Edward wasn't coming back, my heart still fluttered momentarily every time someone came to the door to bring me something. And then they'd come in, and I couldn't help the wave of crushing disappointment I felt when it wasn't him. I ached for him, and I was beginning to think it wasn't a pain that would ever ease, even with time.

When the fourth week of my life sentence came, I got an unexpected visitor. There was a knock on the door, which was odd because no one ever knocked; they usually just let themselves in.

I got up and opened the door slowly…

"Oh my god!" I screamed and threw myself at her.

"Wow, I forgot how… overzealous you can be," Alice joked with a giggle. I was never overzealous, and she knew it.

"Alice, I can't believe you're here," I said with tears pouring down my face.

"What? Did you think I had a debilitating disease that would prevent me from coming to visit you, or something?" she teased.

"That's not funny," I said seriously.

"Oh, lighten up, Bella. Life's too short… at least for me," she said with a huge grin that made her eyes sparkle.

"How are you feeling?" I asked concerned.

"Now, you cut it out!" she said sternly. "I didn't come here so you could treat me any differently than you did before. I just missed my friend and wanted to come for a visit."

I nodded. "Sorry. Well, as a friend, how have you been?" I asked, trying to be casual.

"Good. We haven't been out since skydiving though. Edward has been so busy working with Carlisle that he just hasn't had time to take off," she explained.

"What's he working on?" I asked her curiously.

"Bree. They've been working practically non-stop, trying to figure her out. Aro gave them until the end of the month before he removes her from the program."

"And then what will happen to her?" I asked worriedly.

Alice shrugged. "They'll let nature take its course. She'll probably end up at a home for the disabled… if she even survives. She's died four times already, but Edward refuses to let her go. He fights until he gets her to come back," she said solemnly.

"How is he doing?" I asked quietly. "I mean, you said he's busy, but has he…. has he mentioned anything about me?"

"Bella, to be honest, we've only been…. aware for a few days. I haven't really talked to him. All we know is what Carlisle has said."

"And how much longer will you be… aware for?" I asked her.

She raised her shoulders. "Sometimes it's a few days, sometimes a week. I'm usually the first to start deteriorating."

"Is that why you needed that shot when we were on the boat?" I wondered.

"Yep. Usually we can prolong the effects of the enzyme with a shot of steroids," she explained.

As much as I was angry that my friends were being used in that way, the doctor in me wanted to look at their tests results and try to see how it all worked. But more than anything, I wanted to help in any way that I could, or at least feel like I was doing something.

Alice stayed for a few hours, and we just chit-chatted about random casual stuff, but all too soon she had to get back to Jasper. They only had a limited amount of time together, so they didn't want to waste it, which I completely understood.

"Hey, Alice?" I said as she was getting ready to leave. "If you see Carlisle out there, can you tell him that I'd really like to speak to him?"

"Sure thing," she said with a smile, and then kissed my cheek before skipping away.

The moment she was out of sight, I already missed her. I glared at Felix as he smirked at me from the hall, and then I shut my door so I didn't have to be in his presence.

Carlisle didn't come that day, so I figured he was too busy, or perhaps Alice never ran into him. But two days after that, he finally did show.

"What can I do for you, Miss Swan?" he asked kindly, but seemed extremely tired.

I bit my bottom lip nervously. "I know I don't have any right to ask, but I was hoping that since I'm locked in here anyway, I could take a look at some of your findings. I know it's classified, but I'm never going to leave here, and if I could be of some help…. At least it'll make me feel like I'm not wasting away down here."

"I thought you were morally opposed to it?" he questioned with a smirk.

"I am, but… if you can't beat'em…" I said with a shrug. "I'm not okay with any of this, but if there's nothing I can do to stop you, then I'd like to see if I could possibly do something to help the Cullens. They're my friends, and at this point, there's nothing more important to me than trying to help them find a permanent cure."

He considered it for a moment. "I think we can do that. I'll go see what I can dig up for you," he said warmly, and then he left again. I wasn't sure what he was going to find, but anything at all would be better than sitting on the couch all day watching old TV shows.

As I waited, my mind drifted off to my dad. I wondered how he was taking my 'death'. Was there a funeral? Did anyone even show up? I had spent so much time in school and labs and my nose stuck in a book, that I never really formed any real relationships. My parents and Angela were probably the only ones who even cared that I was never going to return.

Before I knew it, Carlisle returned with a laptop. "Now this doesn't have access to the internet, so you won't be able to contact anyone, but it's full of all our latest work."

"Well, I'm sure that if you and the other genius doctors and scientists down here can't figure it out, then I won't have much luck either, but I'm so happy to have the opportunity to try," I said sincerely.

"Sometimes all it takes is a different way of thinking," he said supportively, and then left me alone with the computer.

I opened the first file, and was completely blown away. There were things in there that I had never seen before, and didn't even understand, but it was all just amazing. I decided to start at the very beginning with case number 3763. There weren't any names on the file, but that was expected. They always did testing with the subjects labeled as numbers instead of names.

The case 3763 was a rare form of Multiple Sclerosis. There were years and years' worth of testing done with genetic mapping and replacement cell therapy. Thousands of different experiments, and then finally, a breakthrough, but it had nothing to do with Multiple Sclerosis. Case number 3763 then became case number 8339.

I pressed the arrow button trying to read the next page of the file, but it appeared to be deleted.

"That's odd," I said to myself. I closed the file and then opened the next.

Case number 2542; Schulin Syndrome. I knew that was Alice because they had already explained her condition to me when they thought I was Dr. Lopez. I read through the entire thing, and then read through the next file, and the next.

I read so long that my brain hurt and I was seeing double, so I decided to take a break. I laid down on the couch and must have slept walked to my room, because when I woke up the next morning, I was in my bed.

I spent the entire next day reading as well, only stopping to use the restroom and when my meal delivery boy came. It was like there was something there, something missing right below the surface, and I could almost taste it, but it was just out of my mental capability to decipherer.

I went to bed with the problem on my mind, and like my years of med school, whenever there was something I needed to work out, I dreamt of Teddy. That was the first time I really thought of him since being in Italy, and I realized then that KRO had affected me more than I previously thought. My work became about trying to prove myself rather than actually trying to find cures, medicine became compounds and genetic codes instead of people who needed help, and I completely lost the core of who I was.

Teddy had been my reason for becoming a doctor; it was he who made me who I truly was in my heart and soul, and I honestly felt like I failed him…

"I' _m so sorry, Teddy," I said to him as he lied on his death bed. He was as clearly there in front of me as he was in life, and the connection I always felt with him was as strong as ever._

 _"When I went into medical school, I was so sure I was going to find a cure… long before now. Naïve huh?" I told him with a heavy smile. He just stared at me wide eyed, but even though there was no expression on his face, I just knew he was listening because I could see it there in his crystal blue eyes._

 _"I just get so…. frustrated here, you know," I continued. "I feel so worthless, like my whole existence has been an utter waste. If I could just figure this out… if I can make some kind of difference, no matter how insignificant, I'll feel like it wasn't all in vain. All my dad's hard earned money that he spent on my education, the time I lost with my mother because of her depression, my obsession with genetics… it would all mean something if I could help, even in the slightest. Maybe figure something out so they can use it as a catalyst to solve the real issue."_

 _"You're going about it wrong," Teddy said suddenly, leaving me in complete shock. Teddy never spoke before, neither in real life or in my dreams, so the fact that he was speaking left me astonished, even if it was only in my imagination. "You can't figure it out by sitting at a computer," he went on. "You need to do what you know, and get back in the lab. You have all the information now, go put it to use. Don't waste your gift, you need to live it."_

 _My new dream Teddy was amazingly insightful, but then his bright blue eyes began to darken and close, and his breathing became labored._

 _"Teddy, what's wrong with you?" I asked in a panic, even though I already knew. He was dying again. Just like he did in his real life._

 _"I have to go now," he whispered._

 _"No, not yet. I need your help, I can't do this without you. You've always been my strength, and now I need that more than ever," I cried. I wasn't there when Teddy really died, and I always felt like there were so many things that I didn't get to say. Perhaps this was finally my chance._

 _"Yes, you can. You've done it without me all along, but now it's time to really let me go," he told me._

 _My heart was aching with the pain that I never really allowed myself to feel before. My mother grieved enough for the both of us, and I had to be the strong one. But he was right, and this was my time; my safe place to let go of something I didn't even know I had been holding onto._

 _I realized then that I had been holding myself back as well. A part of me didn't want to find any cures, because if Teddy couldn't be saved, then I didn't want to believe anyone could. It wasn't that I didn't care about others, but I needed to believe that a cure wasn't possible because it just wasn't fair to lose Teddy when there was a way to save him somewhere._

 _"Teddy, I never told you what you really mean to me," I said in a rush through my tears. I knew we were almost out of time, and I couldn't let him go again without telling him what I needed to say. "I love you so much, and you changed my life in a way that I could never put into words. You made me want to be a better person, and because of you, I was able to see the world for all its silent beauties. I think I forgot that somewhere along the way, but I promise, if I ever get the chance to reclaim my life, I will live to the fullest for both of us. I just wish someone could have found a way to help you."_

 _"Don't be sad for me, Bella, I'm going to be better now," Teddy told me with a weak smile. "I'm going somewhere I can fly. But I don't want you to be locked away now in my place. You need to find a way to fly too."_

 _I nodded, and a new round of tears fell from my eyes. Of course he was going to be better, he already was. Like his mother told me right after his passing, Teddy was a prisoner in his body, and now he's free…._

…

I woke up actually feeling a sense of peace that I couldn't ever remember feeling before. I said goodbye to someone who meant more to me then I'd ever truly understood, and I renewed my spirit at the same time.

It was ironic that Teddy was now free and I had become the prisoner, but like him, I needed to find a way to fly. Even if I could never leave the facility, I refused to allow them to keep my heart locked away.

When Dimitri and Felix came to bring me my food, I asked them to take a letter to Aro. It wasn't a complicated letter, and it wasn't forceful; it just simply asked permission to participate in the labs. I would never leave, and my family thought I was dead, so I was no risk to anyone. I was obviously given the job in the first place because they believed I could make a difference, but I couldn't do anything if I was confined to the apartment.

Three days later, I finally got an answer from Aro. There was no letter, or verbal message. Dimitri came to give me my food, and when he left, he didn't lock me in. Outside the apartment, there was a lab coat with an ID that had my name on it, however, the barcode was gone; it was simply my picture with my name, and under it read 'No Access'.

I put on my coat, and found my way to the elevator. I pressed the button marked L, and down I went. Since there was no barcode, I couldn't get inside the lab on my own, so I pushed a button which appeared to be a doorbell, and waited. After a few minutes, the woman who had thought I was Dr. Lopez came and opened the door for me.

"Ah, Doctor Lopez, you've returned," she said mockingly. She led me through the room with the lit cases, and down the hall of observation windows. We were stopped at the end by a short, dark haired woman, who had a smirk plastered across her face. "Doctor Carmen Lopez, this is Doctor Carmen Lopez," the first woman introduced us sarcastically.

"Oh, so you're the woman who pretended to be me and caused a huge mess around here?" Dr. Lopez said.

"What huge mess?" I questioned.

"You breached security, so they had to scramble to try to find a way to prevent it from happening again," the first woman explained dryly.

"Oh," I said sheepishly. "It was actually pretty easy."

"Mm-hum," Dr. Lopez said amused.

The two women led me through a smaller door at the end of the hall, and inside was a standard lab. I wanted to ask about the Cullens, but I had a feeling that I needed to keep my mouth shut for a while, and just be grateful that I was allowed out of the apartment.

The problems we were looking at in the lab however, were far more complex than the ones I was working on before; it was like moving from elementary school straight to college.

But I had a purpose again, and every day I was eager to get out of Carlisle's apartment, and back to the lab.

…

Another two weeks past, and out of nowhere, I found something.

"Carmen!" I called to her. She was on the opposite side of lab studying some genetic maps, but she looked over at me from where she was.

"What, what is it?" she asked eagerly as a result from my tone.

"I think I found something," I said with my heart fluttering. She ran over to me, and I moved so she could see what I was looking at. "See the small infraction at the base of the Y chromosome?"

"Oh, Chica, you are a genius!" she said excitedly.

I really enjoyed working with Carmen. She was a brilliant geneticist, but she was easygoing and didn't care about formalities. I called her by her first name, and she called me 'Chica', though I wasn't exactly sure why. There were other people that came and went in the lab, but she and I worked there daily. I wasn't exactly sure what all their deals were with Aro, but he obviously trusted them enough to allow them to be part of the KRO Special Division, and I only hoped one day I earned the same trust and allowed to come and go - but I wasn't holding my breath… especially since I was legally dead and all.

"I'm going to go get Doctor Cullen," Carmen said, and ran out of the room.

Two minutes later, she returned with Dr. Cullen….both of them.

"Chica has discovered something," Carmen explained, and then described exactly what I told her. Carlisle was very interested, as was Edward, but in that wonderful moment, all I was interested in was Edward. I hadn't seen him in so long, and I almost forgot how beautiful he was… almost.

"Wow, Doctor Swan, I am impressed," Carlisle said to me sincerely. "I just can't believe we all missed this for so long. Edward, can you set up a new round of testing with this adjustment?"

"Shouldn't be a problem," Edward said reservedly.

"Wonderful," Carlisle said. "Doctor Lopez, I need you to write this up for Doctor Aro."

"Of course," Carmen said, and then the two of them left the lab.

I was expecting Edward to leave as well, but he stayed and started studying my discovery. I just stared at him while he looked in my microscope, and restudied his flawless features. He was so beautiful, and I ached for him all over again. It was like reopening a wound that never healed, and that queasy feeling in my stomach returned with a vengeance. I suppose the sickness I felt from losing him never fully went away, but I had tried ignoring it by keeping busy.

"How are the Cullens?" I asked him as casually as I was capable of. I knew that they were probably in their 'natural state' as he called it, because it had been almost a month since Alice had visited me, but then again, perhaps she was 'aware' again by then.

"Fine… No change," he said emotionlessly.

"Are they… up?" I asked uncomfortably. I was dying to see Alice again, but more than anything, it just made me feel better to know when they were functioning.

"No. We're planning to bring them back out of it in the next couple of days," he said without looking up from the microscope.

"And you do that by reintroducing the enzyme?" I asked.

"That would be correct."

"But you can't keep them on the enzyme all the time because….?" I questioned.

"Because they start building an immunity to it, and then it won't work anymore. If we take them off of it after a few days, their bodies break it down in their systems until it's completely gone, and then we can reintroduce it again," he explained.

"So, we just need to find a compound that will block the immunity," I concluded.

"That's the idea," he said absently. He finally pulled away from the microscope and then turned to me without really looking at me. "Good work," he said evenly, and then headed for the door.

"Edward wait!" I called after him.

"I need to get back," he said quietly knowing I was going to tell him something that had nothing to do with the lab.

"Please, just give me a minute."

He sighed, and then turned back to me, but still didn't look me in the eye.

"I'm sorry for not listening to you. I was just worried…. and impatient. You didn't contact me for almost two weeks, so I started to think something happened."

"It doesn't matter anymore," he mumbled. "What's done is done, we can't change it, and now this is the reality of the situation."

He started to leave again, but after having that dream of Teddy, I promised him and myself that I'd live life to the fullest, and with being locked down there, the fullest I could live was being completely honest about my feelings.

"Edward, I love you," I blurted before I had a chance to chicken out. He stopped and stared at me, but didn't say anything in return; however, the crease between his brows told me that he was thinking intently about what I just said. "And I miss you so much. Maybe I could have handled losing my freedom; maybe nothing else would have mattered as long as we were together. I love you, and I don't expect you to feel the same way, but I just needed to tell you that."

I waited for him to respond, but he just continued to stare at me. I didn't know what I expected him to do or say, but him staring at me definitely wasn't it.

"Edward, can you just say something, please," I said feeling like an idiot, but relieved that he finally knew.

"Why?" he finally said, which confused me.

"Why, what?" I asked.

"Why are you telling me this? The last time we spoke you were yelling at me for my involvement in all this. You were disgusted by the whole thing. And now here you are, working down here, and I get that because you don't have a choice to leave, but now you're telling me that you love me? I just don't get it."

"I was mad… and shocked by everything, but it didn't change the way I feel about you. Nothing ever could. I love you, and that's not going to go away just because I was angry," I told him.

"How many times have you told someone that you love them?" he asked, taking me aback.

"I don't know what you mean," I said honestly.

"How many times, have you told a man that you loved him?" he clarified.

I shook my head. "I never told a man that I loved him, not like this. I never felt like this before, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"You can't stand there and say that there is nothing that will change how you think you're feeling, because you have no idea what will happen in the future. If you never loved anyone before, then how do you know what you're feeling now? You don't even really know me, so how can you be so sure that you can make a statement like that?" he said softly. I knew he wasn't trying to be mean, but it still upset me.

"Why do you think that I don't know you?" I asked him.

"Because you don't," he replied assuredly. "I can't leave here, and I'll never be able to give you what you need."

I couldn't help but laugh humorlessly. "And you think I'm here on vacation? Maybe you tell yourself that you can't leave because of the work, but I'm literally here as a prisoner in a life sentence. So what the hell are you worried about?" I asked and actually surprised myself by how heated I sounded, which wasn't intended.

"I just don't want you to feel like you got involved with something you didn't fully understand… again."

"Uh… in case you forgot, we've already been 'involved'," I said defensively.

"It's different now," he replied.

"How is it different?" I asked getting frustrated by the way he was evading the real issue. "Tell me why I don't fully understand you."

"Eh hum," Carlisle cleared his throat as he and Carmen came back through the door.

I looked at them, and then looked down to try to avoid their questioning glares.

For the next four hours, Carlisle and Edward stayed in the lab and went over different theories with Carmen and me, but Edward didn't talk to me about anything personal. When we were done for the day he left quickly, and I only hoped it wouldn't be another three weeks until I saw him again.

Since I didn't have any freedoms, I was basically only allowed in two places, Carlisle's apartment, which I assumed had become mine, and the lab. So when we were finished, I went back, and like always, my cafeteria meal was there waiting for me on the table, and I ate alone.

I never minded being alone before, but lately the silence of my solitude was so loud that it made my head pound, and that's when I was the most nauseous.

My mind rarely strayed from Edward for too long, but I tried to think of other things. I thought about my dad a lot, and wondered what he was doing. I actually thought about everyone I missed, my mom, Angela; even Liza, Teddy's mom, would creep into my thoughts from time to time. I wished I could talk to them and tell them how much they each meant in my life. There were so many things I said and did over the years that I wished I could take back, and things I never said and wished that I had. So many regrets, but then I'd think about my dream promise to Teddy, and I'd try to let it all go. I couldn't change the past, and I could never make it right, so torturing myself was pointless.

I went to bed that night and tried to clear my mind long enough to sleep, but I kept thinking about the latest discovery in lab so it was hard to stay asleep when I did doze off. At one point, I had an odd dream about double helixes, so my eyes shot open… at least I thought my eyes were open.

There was a couch against the wall where I was facing, and on the couch was Edward sleeping. I wasn't sure if I was still dreaming or not, but I really didn't care in that moment. I got out of bed, and then went over and squeezed myself next to him.

His eyes snapped open, and he jerked back. "Oh shit!" he said abruptly. "Bella, I…" he started to say, but I really didn't want him to talk, so I pressed my mouth against his. He mumbled something against my lips, but I refused to stop kissing him, and after a minute, he gave up and kissed me back with even more intensity than I was kissing him previously. It was as if he lost complete control of the battle he was fighting against himself to restrain from me, and he was letting his desires take over again.

He rolled us over so he was on top, and then his hand promptly found its way under my night shirt and onto my breast. His tongue worked tirelessly with mine, and somehow our tops found their way onto the ground.

He slid his fingers under my panties and caressed the crease at my inner thigh, before removing them altogether. I tried to pull down his sweat pants with my feet, but it wasn't working very well, so after a minute he took over and pushed them off himself before thrusting right into me. His kisses trailed down my chin and onto my neck, where he sucked and nipped at my flesh…

When it was over, we didn't talk. He simply pressed his forehead to mine and we just stared at each other for what seemed like hours, and yet it was over way too soon. He pulled out, and then laid next to me.

At that point, I still wasn't convinced that I was awake, so I rolled over so I was lying across his chest, just so he couldn't disappear on me. I closed my eyes for a brief second, but when I opened them again, it was morning…. and I was alone in my bed.

Damn it.

It felt so real, but then again, my dream of Teddy had felt real too. I got up and went into the bathroom to get ready for my day, when I realized that I was wearing nothing but a t-shirt… and it wasn't even mine. I pulled the collar up to my nose, and smiled because it definitely smelled like Edward in the most amazing way. It all actually happened. Edward had been there, and I couldn't wait to get into lab and hopefully see him again.

I didn't want to take his shirt off, but I needed to shower and get ready, so I did. I just happened to look in the mirror as I was getting dressed, and was shocked at what I saw - A huge hickey on my neck.

"Wow," I said to myself. I never had a hickey before, and actually always thought they were kind of gross, but knowing it was from Edward made it my favorite blotch in the history of blotches.

I finished getting ready, and I casually threw my dark waves into a ponytail before brushing my teeth. When I glanced in the mirror again, I was horrified to see that the hickey was clearly visible.

I never wore much make up, but since being a prisoner, I didn't have any at all so I had no way of concealing it. I stared in the mirror for a good five minutes and seriously considered staying in the apartment until it was gone.

"What the hell," I said into the mirror, deciding that I really didn't care if anyone saw it. If Edward was embarrassed about it, then he shouldn't have done it. I'd rather have the entire Special Unit Division see my hickey then stay in the apartment all day, especially since we seemed to be really onto something.

I shrugged at my reflection, and then walked towards lab...


	9. Testing Surprises

**Chapter 9 - Testing Surprises**

"Oh Chica, what happened to you?" Carmen asked the moment I entered lab.

I already knew what she was referring to, but I decided to play dumb. "What do you mean?" I asked her.

"That bruise on your neck," she said, and then looked closer. "Is that a hickey?"

"Uh… maybe," I said sheepishly.

"Me cago en la madre que te parió!" Carmen yelled unexpectedly.

"Excuse me?" I asked shocked and insulted by her vulgarity. I wasn't fluent, but I knew enough Spanish to know that what she said wasn't nice.

"Oh Chica, I didn't mean you," she said apologetically. "That rat-bastard did that to you, didn't he?"

"Uh… I really…."

"He thinks he can just bully anyone into fucking him. Well I'm going to go give him a piece of my mind."

"Carmen, wait! Who are you talking about?" I asked fairly certain that whatever she was thinking was wrong.

"Aro!" she spat.

"Wait, did Aro come onto you?" I assumed.

"Me, and everyone else around here. I can't believe you actually took that from him," she said disappointedly.

"No, Carmen, I wasn't with Aro. I promise," I assured her.

"Who then?" she asked with a mix of relief and curiosity.

"I, uh…" I wasn't planning on actually telling her, because I knew Edward didn't want anyone to know, but I had no idea what to say. Thankfully, Carlisle stepped in and saved me from having to come up with an answer.

"Are we ready for a day of discovery? We're going to find something today, I can just feel it," Carlisle said, full of hope and excitement.

"I hope so," I said sincerely. I really believed we could make some advances eventually, especially after my finding, but I only wished I was as optimistic as Carlisle was. "Uh, is Edward coming in today?" I asked hopefully.

Carlisle turned to answer me, but paused briefly while obviously seeing my new blotched neck, and then he quickly looked away so I became extremely embarrassed. "He's working in the other lab today," he explained, which I assumed meant that he was working with the Cullens. I was excited that Alice and the others would be awake soon, but I was also disappointed that I wouldn't be working with Edward that day.

We decided to skip lunch because we were deep in testing and didn't want to put it off, but by three P.M. I was starting to feel extremely weak and I kept getting lightheaded.

"Miss Swan, are you ok?" Carlisle asked me concerned after I walked out of the lab unannounced.

"Yeah, I'm just feeling a bit… off," I said not wanting him to fuss over me.

"You haven't been feeling well for awhile now," Carlisle said while grabbing my wrist and checking my pulse for my heart rate.

"As long as I keep busy, I'm fine," I told him. "I just have been getting like this when I don't eat regularly."

"Is there diabetes in your family?" he asked.

"Not that I know of."

"I think we should run some blood work, just to make sure. Have you had any other unusual symptoms? Blood in your stool, rashes, irregular heartbeat…" I kept shaking my head as he listed off the most common ailments that went along with the symptoms I was experiencing. I appreciated his concern, but he seemed to forget that I studied medicine as well, and would know if I had any of those issues.

But then he asked something that I hadn't thought about. "Have your cycles been regular?"

"Uh…" I actually couldn't remember the date of my last period, but it didn't really concern me since I didn't even know what the current date was. I was definitely beginning to lose touch with reality from being locked in that place.

"Don't worry about it," Carlisle said, realizing my hesitation. "We'll just do some blood work and get to the bottom of this."

"Thanks," I said slightly uncomfortable. I was actually rather embarrassed about the whole thing. I was a doctor, and I had let my health continue to be poor for far too long. Perhaps my loss of freedom affected that aspect as well; it was hard to want to be healthy when you were a prisoner, but my living situation wasn't going to change, and it was time to start taking care of myself again.

Carlisle went and got a sterile needle kit, and then I sat down while he drew my blood into three testing tubes. After he was finished, he cleaned up and I hesitantly asked him for a favor.

"Carlisle, is there any way I can go to observe the Cullens as they are given the enzyme to… 'wake up'?" I asked pushing my luck. I knew it was a stretch, but I was dying to see firsthand how it all worked…. And I wanted to see Edward, of course, but I thought I should keep that part to myself.

Carlisle thought about it for a moment, and then he pulled out his cell phone. "I'm going to see if Edward would be willing to take responsibility for you," he explained as he text him.

We waited for a response, and after a minute he checked his phone, and then looked back up at me. I wasn't sure what Edward's answer would be, and I figured it all depended on which of the 'Seven Dwarfs' he was channeling at that moment.

"He said he'd babysit you for a few hours," Carlisle said with a knowing smirk. "But he's already administered the enzyme."

"Oh… Are they awake yet?"

He shook his head. "And you're welcome to go be there for when they do."

"Really?" I said way too excitedly.

He nodded. "Come on, I'll walk you over."

When we got to where Edward was, I was surprised that it wasn't where I had seen him with the Cullens before. It was a simple room with four beds in it, and all the Cullens looked like they were just sleeping.

"Hey," I said to Edward quietly as if I would wake them if I spoke louder. I thanked Carlisle softly, and then he went back to the other lab. Edward and I just stared at each other for a few minutes, and then I tried to break the ice.

"So, how much longer until they're up?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "We have to sedate them when the enzyme is administered." He paused to look at his watch. "Probably another hour, or so. Emmett usually wakes up first, but I'm pretty sure it's just because he's the most competitive."

"Probably," I agreed lightly. "So, do they just wake up and are fully functional?"

"Emmett is usually sore and has to stretch a bit before he feels comfortable, and then he likes to go for a jog. Rosalie always wants to take a shower and blow out her hair, Jazz just likes to go outside and sit for awhile. And Alice always asks a million questions because she hates missing out on things."

Edward got up from where he was sitting, and then he started checking all their vitals.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked, hating to just have to sit there feeling worthless.

"Yeah, if you want. Why don't you check Alice and Jasper for me."

I smiled, and then grabbed the clipboard by their beds and started going over the vitals.

"They look really good," I said as I finished Alice and started on Jasper.

"They always do in the beginning. We just need to figure out a way to keep them that way."

Edward and I sat quietly and watched over them, and waited. But the silence was maddening, so I decided to ask Edward the question that had been on my mind since finding him in my apartment.

"So, how long have you been coming to my room at night?" I asked hoping he wouldn't get upset and close himself off to me again.

"Never stopped," he said casually while looking at Emmett's chart.

"Never?" I asked surprised and way more excited then I should have been from the thought of someone coming into my locked apartment while I slept... again.

"No," he said softly, and then put down the chart and finally looked at me. "I just can't sleep unless I know you're safe," he confessed.

"I didn't know I was in danger anymore," I said quietly.

He smiled crookedly. "Well, I'm sort of a pessimist. I'm definitely the type of person who thinks that if something can go wrong, it will."

"I thought you were the type who was willing to do anything. Like say, zip lining, swimming with sharks, and sky diving. Weren't you also the same guy that tried to convince me that miracles exist?" I said with a smile knowing I got him.

He shook his head. "That was before I got your life taken from you."

"Didn't we agree that I did that myself? If I listened to you, everything would have been fine."

"I should have warned you to leave a long time ago. If I wasn't so selfish, I would have warned everyone to leave. You're not the first person to be 'killed' here. Even if you never came down, it's still hard for people to leave KRO."

I thought about Jessica wanting to leave for two years and how they always found a way to keep her there, and I realized that Edward was right. Aro was paranoid of someone on the outside figuring out what was really going on there, which brought another of my questions to mind.

"Why does Aro and Keller trust all these people that work down here? How did they get their jobs in the first place?" I asked him. People like Carmen and all the others that came and went, didn't seem to have their lives in danger. But then again, Edward did say something about never being able to leave, so perhaps all those people gave up their freedom to be a part of the company.

"Well, they were all…. watched and interviewed for years before they were invited to be a part of this. Besides being paid an obscene amount of money, they know the consequences if they were to ever open their mouths about this stuff to anyone. Besides, they know what they're doing is illegal, so if they were to tell anyone and the police got involved they'd be prosecuted as well. Everyone down here is so deep into this, that there is no way any of them would ever do anything to ruin it."

We were both quiet again, and I absolutely hated the awkwardness between us that always seemed to reoccur, so I decided to just push it all away. He was sitting on a chair next to Emmett, so I went over and sat on his lap and curled myself into him. He was stiff at first, and then he relaxed and wrapped his arms around me.

"Despite what you think…" I said with my ear pressed against his chest. "I really do you love you."

He took a deep breath, which caused my head to rise and fall, and then he gently placed his hand on the side of my face. "I love you too," he said softly.

I sat up, and looked him in the eye. I wanted to cry because I never actually thought he'd say it, but instead I said the first thing I thought of. "How do you know?" I teased.

He smiled knowing he deserved that comeback after what he said to me when I first told him. "Because I know how it feels to not love someone, and this is definitely different."

I smiled at him, and then leaned in for a kiss. I only meant it as a short little physical representation of my love, but nothing about the way I felt for him was short or little, so of course our tongues got involved, and then our eager hands joined in as well. My fingers knotted in his hair as he palmed and kneaded my breasts over my shirt. If we were alone, I was sure it would have ended up with us naked and him inside of me, but the fact we had let it get that far in the presence of the others, was definitely surprising.

"Should I leave you two alone?" someone croaked, so we immediately pulled away from each other. "Don't stop on my account, but if it makes you feel uncomfortable, I'm sure the restroom is vacant."

"Yeah, I bet you would like to watch… perv," Edward said to Emmett while scooting me off of him gently. Edward then stood and checked Emmett's pupils, and then read his heart monitor chart.

"Can I sit up yet?" Em asked frustrated with Edward's examination.

"Just a minute," Edward said, and then finished checking him before finally giving him the ok. Just like Edward said he would, Emmett started stretching, then he immediately wanted to go out for a jog.

"Don't you want to wait for the others, or at least Rosalie?" I asked him.

"Nah, she likes to shower before she sees me," Em said, but then he went over to her still sleeping form, and kissed her sweetly on the forehead. "See ya," he said to us, and went to leave, but then stopped at the door and turned back towards me. "Nice hickey, by the way. Good work, Ed."

I laughed, and then he was gone.

The entire thing was so surreal, and I was completely astonished by the way he was able to just get up and be… normal. It made me want to find a cure even more than I did before, and I became extremely determined. If I did nothing else, I would find a way to help the Cullens. I had to.

We sat and waited for the rest to wake, and one by one, they all came out of their sedation and greeted us, then went about their 'morning routine', as they called it.

After Alice changed her clothes, she automatically started asking me a million questions. She wanted to know how long she was 'out' for, and if Edward and I were officially a couple again. Most of her questions I couldn't answer because I didn't even know; I was almost as out of it as she was, probably even more because she was allowed to go outside and be around other people.

Eventually, even Alice left and went to sit with Jasper outside, so Edward and I were alone again.

"So, what now?" I asked him while wrapping my arms around his waist.

He held me against him, and then sighed. "Well, I need to write a report for Aro, and then we should get something to eat," he suggested.

"Carlisle told you what happened earlier, didn't he?" I said with faux resentment. I knew Carlisle was texting Edward way longer than necessary, so I shouldn't have been surprised that he told him.

"Carlisle tells me everything," he stated.

Edward wrote his report quickly, and then he promised to meet me when he was finished delivering it. So I went to my apartment and was pleasantly surprised to see that two hot meals had been brought, and were sitting on my table. Ten minutes later, there was a light knock at the door.

I ran to open it, and smiled at the casual way Edward was leaning against the door frame.

"You don't have to knock, you know," I told him.

"Well, I thought it would be nice. The last thing I want to do is take away what little privacy you have left ."

"I wish you would," I said jokingly but was completely serious. "In fact, I wish you would bring all your clothes and personal items here, and just call this place home with me," I said boldly, not even caring that it may have been too forward.

He raised his eyebrow at me. "I already do call it home," he said unexpectedly. "Wherever you are, that's where I feel the most at home. I sleep here every night anyway."

I smiled way too big, and my cheeks actually hurt from it. "Well, I'll just clear out a side of the closet then," I said, really hoping he knew how serious I was.

"Okay," he continued on, and if he was bluffing, I was definitely falling for it. "I'll just page Dimitri and have him grab my stuff so I don't have to."

"Will he?" I asked hopefully.

"He has to do everything I say… unless Aro or Keller tells him otherwise."

"Wow," I said surprised. "What makes you so special?" I teased.

"I think it's my perfectly tousled hair," he joked back. "It's that Einstein disarray."

"Is that what it is? I thought it was that 'I don't give a fuck', sex hair."

"Well, that too. But the sex hair thing is just because you're wild in bed."

"Oh, so it's all my fault?" I said with mock offense.

"Entirely."

I pulled myself into him so I could kiss his neck, which resulted in him making an almost a purring sound, and when I pulled back, he groaned. "I do have one condition to you moving in here with me though," I told him.

"And what's that?" he asked suspiciously.

"No more sleeping on the couch. I want you in the bed, next to me, under me, on top of me, inside of me, but you always have to be touching me in some way. Understand?" I said with mock sternness.

He licked his lips and then smirked while nodding. "I think I can handle that."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Definitely," he said strongly, and then pulled me back into him so he could shove his tongue in my mouth.

God, he tasted good.

He had just started unbuttoning my pants, when there was another knock at the door. We both huffed, and then pulled apart so we could answer it. Since Edward agreed to live with me, I decided he should open the door, so he narrowed his eyes at me playfully but then went to go see who it was.

"Carlisle?" he said surprised.

"Edward, I wasn't expecting you here. I actually have the results back from Miss Swan's blood work…. perhaps I should come back later," he said oddly. I was surprised how quickly the results came back, but I suppose with labs everywhere and advanced technology, it would be simple to run various tests quickly.

"Carlisle, what's wrong?" Edward questioned him.

"Nothing… I just think I should speak to her privately."

I began to get nervous from Carlisle's behavior, but I knew there was no point to waiting.

"Just tell me," I said anxiously.

"Miss Swan, I really think…"

"Carlisle, please. We both know Edward will find out anyway. I read his ID; it says 'Unlimited Access' and I assume that means to my test results as well."

Carlisle nodded absently. "Well…. I ran the standard diabetes test and that was negative, so I tested for a variety of other things, like cancer and other diseases…." he hesitated.

"Carlisle, what is it?" Edward asked anxiously.

"You're pregnant."

Uh…

Carlisle looked at Edward sympathetically, and I was just about to lose my mind.

"I don't get it, how can I be pregnant?" I asked, positive that there had to be a mistake.

"I ran it three times. There's no mistake," Carlisle said assuredly.

I was in complete denial. "How could that be? You said you couldn't have children," I said while looking at Edward.

"I can't," he stated calmly, but refused to look at me.

"So, how could I be pregnant then?" I asked getting frustrated.

"Miss Swan…"

"Bella!" I snapped at Carlisle because I hated being called 'Miss Swan', and it was far too stressful of a situation to hold my composure at the moment.

"Bella," he corrected himself. "Whoever else you were with must be…." Carlisle started to say, but I wasn't about to listen to that crap.

"No," I said sternly.

"Didn't you say something about an incident on the boat when you were shark diving?" Carlisle asked Edward.

"I didn't have sex with that guy," I said appalled. "And Edward got to him before he had a chance to force himself on me."

"We're just trying to figure all this out," Carlisle said apologetically. "Rule out any possibilities."

"I haven't been with anyone besides Edward since being in Europe. In fact, I haven't been with anyone else in over two years." I turned back to Edward, but he was still looking down so I got even more upset. "Edward, look at me!" I demanded, so he did. "I swear. I haven't been with anyone; I've never even had sex without a condom before you. There has to be a mistake. Tell me that you believe me."

He stared at me for a long time, and I begged him with my eyes to trust me. Finally he sighed. "I believe you," he said quietly.

"Look, I'm not here to make judgments," Carlisle said softly. "But we're all doctors here, and we have hard facts in front of us. We've tested Edward multiple times, and we're sure that he is incapable of reproducing. It's not even a one in a million chance; his sperm count is a zero. And you are definitely pregnant, so the only conclusion is that it has to be someone else's."

"Ok, either the pregnancy is wrong, or Edward's sperm count is. There are mistakes in medicine all the time, this is just one of those!" I told Carlisle, getting more and more angry. "Maybe it's one of those miracle thingies that you were talking about," I said to Edward.

"No…" Edward said before quietly contemplating for a minute. "What about Rohypnol?" he asked Carlisle.

"Wait… You think someone slipped me the date rape drug?" I asked him incredulously.

"It would make sense," Carlisle mused. "I'd estimate that you're about eleven weeks, and you weren't down here yet then, so it's possible."

I was grateful that Edward believed me about not sleeping with anyone else, but the fact that he thought someone drugged me was just maddening. I would know if something like that happened… wouldn't I?

"Who would…. No, there's no way," I said, refusing to believe that I was carrying some rapist's child.

"Aro has been infatuated with her," Edward whispered to Carlisle as if I wasn't standing there. "That's the only reason he allowed her to stay here instead of…" He let his words trail off. The whole thing was disgusting, and the thought made my skin crawl.

"No…" I said with tears streaming down my face.

"I'm going to get to the bottom of this Bella, I swear," Edward said with conviction, and that's when I noticed that he was shaking. He was absolutely livid, and I was worried about what he was going to do. He kissed my forehead, and then stormed out of the apartment.

"Carlisle," I said in a panic. "What's he going to do?"

"I won't let him do anything, I promise," he said, and then ran out after him.

Being alone at that moment wasn't a good thing, but I didn't have a choice, so I sat there and freaked myself out even more. I never wanted to have kids, and when Edward said he couldn't, I was more than ok with that. But the thought of having someone like Aro's child inside of me, just made me repulsed with myself. I couldn't look at it as an innocent child that was half mine the way perhaps I should, and I wondered how I'd ever be able to go through with the pregnancy.

But if it was Aro's, what would he do? Would he even allow me to get an abortion?

Over the next two hours, I freaked myself out about every possible scenario which could have resulted in my pregnancy. It had to happen before I was locked down there, and because of that fact, it could have been absolutely anyone. I even considered the fact that Dimitri had been following me for awhile due to the tapped phones, and perhaps he slipped me something at some point. Suddenly there was an avalanche of terrifying possibilities, and I was making myself sick from thinking about them.

Finally, Edward and Carlisle came back, but their expressions were unreadable.

"It's not Aro's," Edward said quietly.

"How do you know?" I asked relieved, but worried about what really happened at the same time.

"He has no reason to lie," Carlisle said. "If you'd like, we can…." he paused and looked at Edward. Edward nodded, so Carlisle continued. "We can test to see when the exact date of conception was, and then we can check the surveillance cameras to see if we can figure out what happened."

"Surveillance cameras? Oh, please tell me that they weren't recording me while I was in my room?" I asked feeling even more violated.

"Not in the room, but right outside the apartment, as well as just about everywhere else in the compound. If someone was following you, or broke into your apartment, we'll know," Carlisle said. I briefly wondered how no one saw me sneaking out of the Special Unit building the first time if the entire place was under surveillance, but then I figured that Edward had probably gone back and erased those tapes right away.

Edward waited with me while Carlisle calculated my exact date of conception, and then he cross-referenced it with the videos. It took a few hours, but when he came back, he looked confused, and he played the tape for us so we could see the reason for his confusion.

The only person, other than me, to go anywhere near my apartment that day, was Edward. We also looked at different locations throughout the day, and there was nothing unusual.

"I was working in her lab that day, and I was with her practically the whole time. There was no way she could have been slipped something then," Edward said confidently, which just caused even more confusion.

"I checked two days before this one, as well as two days after, just to be sure. They were all the same. I think we should run a DNA test between you and the fetus," Carlisle suggested to Edward.

"It's not possible," Edward said, but his certainty was definitely faltering.

"But you can't do a DNA test until later, right?" I asked knowing an amniocentesis could only be done after the fourteenth week.

"We can do Chorionic Villus Sampling now, and have the results done by midnight… If you'd like," Carlisle informed me.

"And what's that?" I asked, trying to remember the minute amount of obstetrics I did in medical school.

"I'll use an ultrasound to guide a thin catheter through the cervix to your placenta. The chorionic villi cells, which are located where the placenta is attached to the uterine wall, are gently suctioned into the catheter. Those cells contain the fetus's genetic makeup, so we'll be able to run a paternity test."

"Is it safe for the baby?" I asked. It was alarming how quickly my feeling for the fetus changed. The thought of it possibly being Edward's made me want it more than I ever wanted anything before. I knew it was stupid, because I was a prisoner serving a life sentence and it was no place to raise a baby, but the thought of bringing a mini Edward into the world was an amazing thing.

"It's considered safe, but there are risks. One out of a hundred miscarry," Carlisle explained. "However, the amount of inept doctors out there preforming the procedure definitely adds to that risk."

I looked at Edward for his opinion, but he seemed to be unable to really process anything at the moment.

Was he in shock?

"Ok, let's do it," I said, eager to learn the truth.

….

The procedure went quickly, and afterwards I went back to my apartment because Carlisle said I needed to rest. I expected Edward to help Carlisle with the results, but after he gave him his own DNA to sample, he just stayed with me. We didn't say much as we waited, but I could tell he was freaking out…. I just wish I understood why.

I refused to watch the clock, so when Carlisle came back I had no idea how much time passed.

Edward jumped up. "Well?" he asked impatiently.

Carlisle nodded. "It's yours," he said even more sympathetically than he did when he thought I cheated on him.

I didn't understand Carlisle's tone, or Edward's blank stare, but I was ecstatic.

"We're going to have a baby!" I said excitedly and then wrapped myself around Edward, but he didn't hold me back. "What's wrong?" I asked him.

"How soon can we get the abortion?" Edward asked Carlisle without even looking at me.

"We can do it at anytime," Carlisle responded solemnly.

"Wait, hold on…. What?" I asked baffled. Edward was more upset about the baby being his than when he thought someone had raped me? I was so confused.

"Let's do it right away," Edward said.

"I'll go set everything up," Carlisle said, and then headed for the door.

"No!" I yelled because they weren't listening to me.

"Bella, you can't have this baby," Edward said apologetically.

"Why not?" I asked upset. "Look, we can figure out a way to make it work. I know I can't leave, so I guess you're going to have to take him or her outside to play. It's not ideal, but we can make it work."

"It has nothing to do with you," Edward told me. "Look, other than the fact that I couldn't have kids, the fact that I shouldn't was always more important."

"Shouldn't?… Why?" I asked perturbed that he wasn't just telling me what I needed to know.

"Hey, there you guys are, we've been looking everywhere," Alice said with a huge smile as all the Cullens walked into the room. "I think we should convince Aro to give Bella a pass so we can all go out."

"I second that," Jasper agreed.

"Yeah, that weasel needs to just get over himself and learn to trust," Emmett chimed in.

"We're not going anywhere, at least we're not," Edward said, gesturing towards me.

"What's going on?" Rosalie asked concerned.

"Bella's pregnant…" He took a deep breath. "It's mine."

"Oh," they all said at the same time. They seemed to understand the problem, and the quietness that followed the news was absolutely deafening.

"So, you're forcing her to get an abortion?" Rosalie finally asked, breaking the torturous silence in the room.

"Of course we are!" Edward snapped.

"Is that what she wants?" Jasper asked unexpectedly. I didn't understand anything, but I definitely wasn't expecting Jasper to be supportive of me over whatever issue Edward had.

"Think about the alternative, Jazz," Edward replied sharply.

"I just know what it's like to not be able to make decisions for myself, and… it sucks," Jasper told him.

"This is different, there is no decision for her to make. We don't have a choice!" Edward's words were stern and unyielding, and it was absolutely infuriating.

"Okay, enough!" I yelled. "What the hell is going on?"

"Tell her, Edward," Rose encouraged. "You've been lying long enough. She deserves to know the truth."

"Lying about what?" I asked frustrated.

"I never lied about anything," Edward said defensively. "I just haven't been completely forthcoming."

"About what?" I really didn't have the patience for the way he was avoiding the topic.

"Look Bella, I'll tell you everything, but we have to do the abortion right now, before…" Edward was abruptly cut off when we had an unwelcomed visitor…


	10. Case 8339

**Chapter 10 - Case 8339**

"You see, I knew this was going to happen," Aro said with his slithering voice as he sauntered into the room.

"Fuck! This has nothing to do with you, so go the hell away!" Edward yelled at him.

"Oh, I don't think so. This has everything to do with me, and you know it." Aro walked towards Edward and got within inches of his face. "I own you, and I own her. That makes this my business. I knew you were going to race for the abortion, which is why you are no longer allowed to be alone with her... Dimitri!" he called.

"No, fuck you! You are not taking her from me!" Edward yelled as Dimitri grabbed him from behind and started pulling him towards the exit. I reflexively moved to go to him, but then Felix caught me from behind and restrained me. "Let her go, you son of a bitch!" Edward yelled.

"Relax son, he's not going to hurt her," Carlisle said calmingly, but with a warning undertone.

"Carlisle, she's…."

"I know, but we don't exactly have a choice here. We are all the best doctors in the world; we'll see her through it."

"For now on, you will be supervised at all times. Do you understand me?" Aro said challengingly to Edward. They stared each other down for a few long moments, and finally Edward reluctantly nodded and backed down. "Carlisle, if you know what's best for your little clan here, you'll start working on case 8339 again," Aro said with a smug sleazy smirk.

I looked over at Edward, and he was absolutely fuming. If Dimitri wasn't holding him, I was sure Edward would have physically attacked Aro, but to my pure agonizing chagrin, I still didn't understand why. I glanced at the other Cullens, and they seemed to be pretty upset as well, but none of them said anything.

"Felix, I think our Isabella has had enough excitement for one day; please see that her visitors leave her to rest," Aro instructed.

"Yes, Sir," he said and then motioned for everyone to leave, which they did… all but Edward. Edward shook his head at him with a deadly glare, but Dimitri grabbed him again and forced him out without allowing him to say another word.

"Oh, and Bella," Aro said as he was about to leave as well. "Edward will not be joining you tonight. He's on a time out until he learns to behave himself."

I was so beyond pissed that I couldn't even see straight. I had no idea what time it was, but it had to be in the wee hours of the morning because it had been an extremely long time since I slept last. My mind was fuzzy and it hurt to think, but I was shaking from the emotionally stressful day and I doubted that I'd be able to sleep anyway.

Case 8339. Case 8339. What the hell was that? The number was definitely familiar, and it seemed to keep coming up, I just needed to figure it out. And then I remembered where I saw it - the computer Carlisle had let me use - the computer that I still had! I opened up the first file, and started skimming through it again.

Case 3763 was a rare form of Multiple Sclerosis. Years of research and then a discovery, which had nothing to do with Multiple Sclerosis - Case 3763 became case 8339. But that was it, it didn't say what the case was and there were no clues as to why it was deleted from the file log.

8339, 8339, what the hell was that?

And then I remembered something else Edward had said. Right after he caught me in the Special Unit building, he told me a little about what was going on. He said - "Carlisle worked for five years, but instead of finding a way to save his wife, he found a cure for a different disease, and that was the real beginning of KRO."

Case 3763 was the first file, and then it became 8339, so it would make sense that case 3763 was Carlisle's wife Esme. Carlisle never found a cure for his wife, but found something else instead, so that must be case 8339… the case that was erased from the files I was reading.

"Ugh, this is so frustrating!" I yelled.

Eventually my head was pounding so hard that I finally fell asleep, but it wasn't very restful.

…

 _I was in a grassy field full of yellow wildflowers. It was the same location which Edward had always appeared in when I used to dream about him in the beginning. But Edward wasn't there this time, it was Teddy… and he was walking._

 _"Oh, my god… Look at you!" I said astonished._

 _"I told you I was going to be better now," he said with his bright blue eyes sparkling exactly like the beautiful clear sky._

 _"You also said that you weren't coming back to visit me," I said with a grin._

 _"Well, I think you just need a little nudge."_

 _"Really, how so?" I asked him._

 _But then everything changed. Suddenly we weren't in the field anymore, we were back in my apartment, and Teddy was sitting next to me on the bed, but his face was distorted or even blurry in an odd way that was almost frightening. But it was Teddy, and I refused to be afraid of him regardless his appearance._

 _"Call me," Teddy said strangely._

 _"What? I don't understand what you mean."_

 _"Call me," he repeated and then picked up a phone off the nightstand, and handed it to me. I didn't really have a phone there, so I wondered why my dream would put one there, but the whole thing was so confusing that I just went with it._

 _"I don't remember your number," I said trying to think back to when I was thirteen._

 _"Call me, NOW!" he yelled, which turned into a shrilling scream._

 _"Teddy, what's wrong…. Teddy?" I asked concerned, but he didn't stop screaming. "Teddy STOP!" I yelled, and then, there was silence. ….._

 _._

I sat up in my bed and realized it was morning, but I couldn't get Teddy's shrill out of my mind. It was like a ringing in my ears, and it was vibrating right through me.

' _Call me NOW!'_ \- His words repeated in my head... so I did the most ridiculous thing; I went to the kitchen, and picked up the telephone. The phone had been long disconnected since I started living there, but for some reason, I just felt like I needed to try to dial something.

I looked at the keypad, not really sure what I was doing, and then I saw it.

 **123**

 **456**

 **789**

Each number had a series of letters. 2ABC, 3DEF etc. and I realized then that the case numbers could actually be words. After studying the first case number, and working out all the possible words that could be made from those numbers, it became obvious that 3763 stood for Esme. It was clear as day, and I couldn't believe it took so long for me figure it out. But like my dad had always told me - "Sometimes the most simplest things are the most difficult to see".

But 8993 was harder, because nothing seemed to make sense with those particular letters that went with the numbers.

' _Call ME!_ ' - Teddy's imaginary voice screamed in my head.

"Ugh, I can't think straight!" I shouted and threw the phone onto the couch out of pure frustration. It was like the answer was right in front of me, but I just couldn't see it and my mind was getting painfully fuzzy the more I tried.

Just then, Carlisle came to the door and didn't look very happy.

"Hey, how's Edward?" I asked, knowing how upset he was.

"Well, I can tell you that you are definitely a more cooperative prisoner," he said solemnly.

"Carlisle, can't you do something here? I mean, you started this company, right?"

He shook his head. "I started the research, but Aro had all the money. I've lived here for twelve years, and I never once took a pay check, if I had, maybe I could have saved it to branch out on my own. But it wasn't about money for me, it was about the work. I had all my needs paid for, but besides that, I've always been a simple man and never really wanted for anything that money could buy. But without money to pay for the materials, there isn't anything we could do away from here."

"We need her now," A doctor I didn't know said as he came into the room unannounced.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Aro has ordered testing done on you and your fetus," Carlisle said apologetically.

"Testing? What kind of testing?" I asked in a panic.

"Bella, I'm sorry. But when we did the DNA test yesterday, we also tested for genetic diseases… and it was positive for Lytchenstein Kolff Disease."

I felt like my heart just leapt out of my chest. "What? How…?" I couldn't form a full sentence, and the words I did say were jittery and uncontrolled. "I never heard of that before," I managed to spit out.

"Not many have, it's extremely rare. There have only been forty confirmed cases worldwide, and only nine have survived birth," he said sympathetically.

"Only nine have survived birth?" I repeated horrified. "Wait, did you say Kolff? As in Dr. Kolff the Biomedical Engineer? The same Dr. Kolff KRO is named after?"

"The very same. Dr. Kolff was a pioneer in biomedical engineering, which is one of the reasons why we named KRO after him. It just so happens he was also the first to identify and document cases of this particular disease."

"OK," I shook my head, trying to refocus on the issues my child would face. "So it's a genetic condition?"

He nodded. "And the reason it is so rare is because both parents have to be carriers…. Unless, of course, one of the parents actually has the disease….. Then," he sighed. "Then the child would have a ninety eight percent chance of also having the disease."

"So, Edward and I are both carriers?" I asked incredulously.

"I didn't say that," he said, which confused me.

"We need to go now!" the doctor came back and demanded, so Carlisle led me gently by my arm, and I walked absently beside him.

"I tried to give Edward time to tell you, but you deserve to know," Carlisle said while we walked. "Lytchenstein Kolff Disease is closely related to cerebral palsy, except it's a mutation of the disease... and terminal. When I said that only nine have survived birth, I meant that the mothers have also died. We don't exactly know why, but it has something to do with the fetus not being able to absorb nutrition properly from the umbilical cord, which results in it taking what it needs from the mother's other organs. It drains the mother of all her nutrients and causes extreme dehydration. Like I said, only nine out of forty have survived."

My head was spinning as I struggled to focus in order to understand what he was saying, but I was so foggy brained that it was difficult to process. "So, Edward…"

"Edward and I wanted to give you the abortion right away, because we knew if Aro found out, he'd force these tests on you and wouldn't allow you to get an abortion. Bella, I'm not going to tell you that this baby will kill you, but it will definitely be the fight of your life."

"And when it's born…."

"Of the nine who survived birth; most died in the early years of life. If it survives even that long, the child will have no control over any of it's motor functions, will never speak, and never walk."

I unintentionally let my hand drop to my abdomen and Teddy's face flashed in my mind. Perhaps that's what my dream was trying to tell me. In some odd way, maybe it was Teddy telling me everything was going to be ok.

I swallowed hard. "Well, I'm glad Aro stopped it then," I said quietly as we entered the lab.

"What?" Edward said from behind me. I didn't know that he was there, or maybe he just came and heard the end of our conversation, either way, he wasn't happy about it.

I turned to face him. "I'm glad Aro stepped in and stopped you from forcing me into an abortion," I told him strongly. I was in a whirlwind of emotions, and I couldn't decipher between them. I was scared and worried about my baby, I loved Edward and missed him whenever we were apart, but at the moment, I was pissed. "Who do you think you are, anyway? You have no right to try to kill my baby without my permission!" I said angrily to Edward after realizing that was exactly what he planned on doing without even explaining it all to me first.

"Bella, it could kill you!" he said agitatedly.

"It's still my decision," I insisted.

"And what kind of life do you think the kid is going to have, huh?" he asked full of resentment. When I didn't answer right away, he continued. "Even if we somehow managed to take it from this awful place, all it would know is pain, and suffering, and loneliness, and the feeling of being trapped."

"Really? Is that how the Cullens describe their lives? Because I know for a fact that it's possible to be happy, even if you're disabled."

"And how do you know that?" he asked bitterly.

"Because I was very close to someone who was, and he was the most pure, loving soul I ever encountered, and if our baby has even a portion of that life I saw inside him, then it's a life that deserves a chance."

He shook his head. "You have no idea what you're talking about," he said while his angry emerald eyes pierced straight through me.

"And you do?" I provoked. "Everyone is different, and maybe Emmett and the others hate being in their 'natural' state because they know how it feels to be different, but before they knew that, you can't tell me that they were never happy. How can you do the work that you do, and still believe that people with disorders don't deserve a chance to live? To you, they're just faceless diseases unless you can bring them out of it the way you do with the Cullens, and that's why you can detach your emotions from them. You talk about the many 'others' that came before the four of them as if they didn't mean anything, as if because of their diseases, they didn't have emotions. That's wrong Edward, and if you ever really got to know any of them, if you spent time with any of them other than just trying to fix what you think is broken, then perhaps you'd understand why I'd want to have our baby regardless of any diseases it may have."

He was quiet for a moment as he thought about everything I said. And then, he sighed. "You're right. I never have spent time with any of them. Apart from the Cullens, I never sat by someone who was mentally and physically disabled and read them a story, or even looked them in the eye to try to see who they really were on the inside. But it has nothing to do with not believing. I know damn well what goes on in some of their minds, and the truth is that I just don't want to think about it. Aro may be an insensitive power-hungry jackass, but what we are doing here is important. If I stopped to get to know every patient that came in here, I would go insane. Sometimes a few people have to be sacrificed for the greater good."

"Tell that to the ones who have been sacrificed!" I said angrily, just as I had told Carlisle when he tried to sell me on that same sentiment.

"Ok, I'm here. Let's get started on case 8339 and a half!" Aro said way too excitedly.

"You never take part in the lab work," Carlisle said to him confused.

"Oh, but this one is going to be different. I can feel it."

"If you touch her, I won't hesitate to kill you," Edward warned Aro.

"Don't worry child, I'm a doctor… or did you forget?" Aro replied mockingly.

"I swear…" Edward started to say, but Aro cut him off.

"You swear what? We have already discussed this. If you threaten me again, I'll cut you off and send you where all the other rejects go. And then I'll disband the Cullen division and let all them go back to la-la land as well. Do you understand me?"

There was a beat of silence, and then - "Ya," he mumbled.

"What? Speak clearly, otherwise what's the fucking point to even making you better," Aro demanded. "Do you understand?" he repeated.

"Yes!" Edward yelled in his face.

"Very good," Aro said arrogantly, and then he turned to Carlisle with fake enthusiasm. "I am so excited that we get to study and test this rare and fascinating disease from the very beginning. As soon as the fetus is matured enough to survive outside the womb, I want it out."

"Aro, this is ridiculous. Bella had no knowledge of this and you're putting her life in danger. We need to abort," Carlisle tried reasoning.

"Absolutely not. Technically, she's already dead, so if she dies during this, then so be it. I want the medication administered as soon as the infant is born," he said sternly.

"We've tried the medication on other Lytchenstein Kolff patients, 8339 is the only time it's worked," Carlisle said frustrated.

"And this is 8339 and a half. If it was to work on anyone else, it'll be this infant," Aro said resolved.

"And then what? We won't be any closer to a cure, you'll just have two people needing the medication and draining your wallet," Carlisle argued.

"Oh no, 8339 has been on the medication far too long. Perhaps he isn't as different from the others as we thought. Maybe he just can't be cured permanently because the medication has blocked it. This infant will be a new start. I want an alternative version of the medication. Come on, Carlisle; I know you can figure this out…. You don't want any more lives on your hands, do you?"

Carlisle just glared at him.

"I didn't think so," Aro said, and then walked out of the room.

"Okay, what's 8339?!" I exploded. I had enough, and I wasn't going to relax until I got some answers. "I know case 3763 means Esme, and it became case 8339, so what is 8339?"

"It means Teddy!" Edward said, shocking the hell out of me. "T.E.D.Y… They had to drop one of the D's."

"Yes, well it needed to be four digits in order to fit in our data base system at the time. It was just a simple way for us to keep track of the cases." Carlisle explained softly - not that I was listening to him at that point.

"Teddy?" I said with a knot in my throat. Surely it was just a coincidence; surely it couldn't be my Teddy.

"Teddy was one of our first test subjects," Carlisle jumped in.

"And… This Teddy…. he had Cerebral Palsy?" I asked, seriously hoping that I was coming to the wrong conclusion and they were talking about a different Teddy. I could never function and continue to be friendly with any of them knowing they had used my Teddy as a lab rat. I wasn't ok with them using anyone, but because I was so close to him, I knew I could never get past it.

"No, he had Lytchenstein Kolff Disease," Carlisle said slowly.

"Like my baby?"

"Yes," Carlisle replied. "It's a disease that can be confused with Cerebral Palsy because the symptoms are similar, but on a cellular level it's quite different.

"You said Lytchenstein Kolff Disease was genetic. You told me that it had to be carried by both parents, or that one of them had to have the disease?"

"Your child inherited it solely from Edward. You are not a carrier," Carlisle said softly.

I didn't realize that I was crying at that point, but so much information had just been told, that I needed a minute to fully process it.

I took a deep breath, and then turned to Edward.

"You're sick?" I whispered, unable to speak any louder at the moment. He had been starting to get stuff together for whatever testing they were going to do on me, but he then stopped and turned back to face me.

"I should have told you, but… I just didn't want you to act any differently around me. I never expected things to go this far, and when they did, I just… didn't know how to tell you. But I swear, we were sure that I couldn't conceive children, otherwise I would have never put you at risk like that," Edward explained shakily. He seemed like he was on the verge of having a breakdown, but he forced himself to keep it together.

I looked back at Carlisle. "But, you and Edward both said that when they were searching for a cure for Esme, they found a different cure for 8339?"

I was painstakingly trying to piece everything together, and hoping that there was a simple solution for everyone's sake, but I already knew that wasn't the case.

"It wasn't exactly a cure," Edward said gently. "It allows me to function, but I need to take a medication every day."

"Like the Cullens?" I asked mechanically.

"No… I never deteriorate the way they do. I'm able to stay functioning all the time… unless I don't get the medication."

I felt like I couldn't catch my breath as I listened to him. It was like my entire world came crashing down on me, and I didn't know how to handle it.

"So, you have Lytchenstein Kolff Disease?"

He nodded.

"And… you're Teddy?" I said, no louder than a breath. In fact, I may have just mouthed the words without sound, but it didn't matter, he understood.

He stared at me for a few moments…. and then he nodded again.

"Teddy Masen?" I asked a little louder, just to be positive that we were talking about the same person.

Once again, he nodded.

"No…" I said crying again. "He died… I went to the funeral…. I was with him right before it happened… My mom said…" I had to take another deep breath, because I was starting to hyperventilate.

"She didn't know… No one did," Edward explained quietly. "Aro and Keller approached my parents and told them that they had an experimental procedure, but they had to sign a waiver. So they signed it and allowed me to go to their facility in Chicago. Two days later, they were told that I had died."

I shook my head absently. "You don't look like him," I said in denial.

"The muscular issues that the disease causes changes the way the face looks," Carlisle told me.

"Your eyes are green… his were blue," I said still shaking my head.

"It's the medication," Edward explained. "It causes yellowing of the iris. The Cullens all have it. That's why Emmett's and Alice's eyes look hazel; they were brown before, but the medication changed them. Rosalie and Jasper both had shades of blue eyes as well, but now they're green like mine."

"But you said you had different medication then them?" I asked, reaching for anything that could make it untrue.

"They are all different, but they all have a similar compound which affects the eyes," Edward explained.

"Teddy… Why would they call you Edward if your name is really Teddy?" I asked absently. As more information became clear, my mind seemed to go from denial to a serious state of shock, but I still had questions and I asked them as if I was on autopilot.

"Teddy became the name of the case…. I didn't want to just be a case anymore, so I decided to go by my full name," he explained.

"Isn't Teddy short for Theodore?"

"And Edward," Carlisle jumped in. "It's not the most common nick name for it, but if that was a Masen family name, then it would make sense that they would carry it on."

"Teddy was named after his great grandfather," I said, remembering when I saw an old picture in Liza Masen's bedroom. I had asked who he was, and she said he was Teddy's namesake.

"Bella…" Edward said, and then he hesitated and seemed to change his mind about what he was going to say.

I looked at him closer, and tried to see him for who he really was, but I couldn't find any trace of Teddy inside of him at all.

"Do you… remember me… from before?" I asked slowly. "Did you know who I was when we first saw each other here?"

"Yes, I knew. I was surprised to see you, and I swear, I had nothing to do with you being hired here," he assured me. "I remember a lot from when I was a kid in that state. I remember my parents, your mother… the way you used to come home from school every day, and spend hours telling me every little thing that happened to you."

I couldn't handle it anymore and I broke down, so he took a step closer to me.

"I used to… wait for you," he went on. "I didn't understand time very well, but I knew at some point you'd be there, and with your musical voice, you'd let me into your world. It didn't matter that I was unable to respond to you, you just kept coming back, day after day, and you'd look at me as if you knew I could understand you. When you had reading assignments, you'd come read out loud to me, and it meant more then you'll ever truly understand," he said softly.

I felt like I was falling as the gravity of the situation hit me full force, but at the same time, I felt like my feet were finally on the ground as everything began to make sense. All my dreams of Teddy weren't him coming back from the dead to deliver a message, or to say goodbye, it was him trying to tell me to open my eyes and see him there in front of me. It was my mind subconsciously telling me that I already knew the truth, but refused to believe it.

"Everyone thinks you're dead," I said through my tears.

"Everyone thinks you're dead too," he pointed out.

A part of me wanted to run to him, and wrap my arms around him; I wanted to hold him as Teddy, and as Edward. But my feet were locked in place, and I couldn't close the distance between us. I wiped my face, and tried to clear my head. I still had question that I needed answered.

"So, when you... woke up, what did you think? Were you scared?" I asked short of breath, still feeling like someone had punched me in the stomach.

"Carlisle had been explaining things while the testing was being done. I didn't understand everything though, it was like there was a block in my brain, or even a filter that only allowed some things to be processed. But the moment I was given the proper enzyme in the right dose, everything became clear. It was like… having a massive migraine all my life, and finally I was able to think without it hurting. And then everything became simple. My mind was always working on overdrive just to understand the most basic things before, and when the blockage was gone, my brain just soaked up everything like a sponge."

"That's why most problems seem easy to you?" I concluded, thinking about how he'd answer the most complex questions in lab like they were elementary.

He nodded.

"And what? You were able to get your medical degree as easily?" I assumed.

"Well, technically, I don't have a degree, at least not a legal one, but yeah. I was sixteen when I was first put on the medication, and I was helping Carlisle with Alice a year later. We thought when we discovered the other enzymes that they would work for them as mine did for me, but we were wrong. We still can't seem to find the missing link that will allow them to live the way that I do."

"And when you said that you can't leave here?" I asked.

"I need the medication. If I don't get it, then I'll go back to how I was. It's a terminal disease, so I have no idea how long it would be until it killed me, but I also can't leave the others here either. "

"And this is the only place you can get the medication?"

"Carlisle and I make it here. If we had proper funding, we could do it somewhere else, but it's extremely expensive. It's a complex compound, and even if we were to do it a million times, we would still need the procedure in written form to follow. And there is no way we could ever get that information out of the facility."

I closed my eyes tightly, trying to recover from the violent onslaught of information I received, but I just couldn't figure out how it all made me feel. I was bewildered by the whole thing, and I knew it would take some time until I was fully able to comprehend everything.

"So, there's a chance that the enzyme will work for our baby as well?" I asked feeling a twinge of hope in the hopeless situation. It was the only thing I could grasp, so I was going to hold onto it with everything I had.

"We've tried it on others with the same disease, and Edward is the only one it's worked for," Carlisle explained heavyhearted.

"But like Aro said, the baby has your DNA, so if it was going to work on anyone else, it'll be it, right?" I asked Edward.

"Bella, before we can even consider any of that, we would have to get you both to survive the pregnancy. My mother almost died, but she was one of the lucky few," Edward said gently but intensely, trying to make me understand the reality of the situation. "An abortion is the best solution."

"Well, that option as been taken away now, hasn't it?" I asked with a twinge of resentment. I couldn't believe he was still hoping for that, even after Aro forbade it.

"I know, but… we can still find a way," he said determinedly.

"Really? Well, Felix and Dimitri over there, say otherwise. I'm having this baby, and I don't care what the consequences are."

"Bella…."

"No Edward, just stop. If you go against Aro, he'll take the funding for your medication away and you and the Cullens will be helpless," I said, suddenly finding some dormant strength. I then sat in one of the chairs, and put out my arm waiting for Carlisle to come and draw my blood.

Carlisle cleaned my skin and then punctured me with the needle, and I didn't even feel it. I was so numb and emotionally drained that there was no way I could feel anything in that moment.

Edward was really Teddy… or Teddy was Edward; I was still unsure which one was correct. He had some terrifying disease but it was being controlled by an enzyme that could only be made at KRO, and we were having a baby with the same disease.

It was all just too much, and if I wasn't numb I would have surely imploded. I just needed to find a way to accept my new reality and try to find a way to live through it.


	11. The Simple Things

**Chapter 11 - The Simple Things**

After my first round of testing, I decided that I needed to get out of the lab before I went absolutely nuts. Even though I knew the truth, a part of me still looked at Edward and Carlisle as co-conspirators in taking Teddy away from his family. I knew it wasn't really either of their choice, but I couldn't shake the slight resentment I was feeling. Edward didn't even seem to care about the family he left behind, just as he didn't care about the patients that lost their battle with the diseases they were trying to cure.

My brain knew Edward was Teddy, but it was still hard to truly believe. It wasn't like Teddy died, it was more like he was erased, like Edward was a foreign entity that took over his body and changed him into something completely different. I knew I would always love Edward as a man, but that sweet innocent Teddy was completely gone, and I felt like I lost him all over again. He wasn't in heaven, he wasn't a spirit visiting his family, and I knew I'd never dream of him in the same way again… he was just nothing.

I wasn't allowed to go outside, but I found a small window the size of a vent at the end of the hall between the lab and the elevator, so I pulled a chair over and stood on it to get closer to the sunlight peeking in.

God, I missed fresh air.

It was funny how people take little things for granted, like the sound of crickets at night, or buzzing bees in the summer heat. It was the little things that I'd never stop missing. I guess it was ironic in a way, but I was positive that though he may not have understood, buzzing bees and crickets were some of Teddy's favorite things. He didn't smile when I took him outside in his wheel chair, but I could always see it in his eyes; the sparkle, the way they danced and came to life every time a bird would chirp, or a butterfly would flutter past us. It was the simple things that he lived for, and that was what I missed the most about him.

The sky grew dark, so I headed to bed and lied awake feeling absolutely lost and alone. But then I rested my hand on my stomach, and even though it was way too early to feel it move, I definitely felt a strong connection to the life developing inside of me. I wanted a healthy baby more than anything, but knowing it was going to be a little Teddy definitely made my heart flutter. I wanted a cure so my child could live a long full life, but if one was never found then I would make sure that my baby had the most loving life possible.

The next day I was escorted to the lab by Dimitri again, and was surprised to find Carmen working there with Carlisle.

"Hey," I greeted them casually.

"Oh Chica, I'm so sorry, I had no idea any of this was happening to you," Carmen said while hugging me.

"Uh, it's okay," I said, unsure how else to respond.

"Well, I know this is a serious issue, but I still can't help but be thankful that the baby isn't Aro's," she said carefully.

"You and me both," I agreed.

"And Edwardo is so handsome; probably a great lover, no?"

"Yes, Edward is handsome," I said, and couldn't help but smile at her forwardness. "And good at the other stuff too."

She gave me an understanding smirk.

"Speaking of Edward, where is he this morning?" I asked Carlisle.

"He's on a hunting trip," Carlisle said peculiarly.

"Hunting?" I asked confused. "Oh was it Emmett's turn to pick the excursion today?" I said, thinking only Emmett would choose such an activity.

Carlisle chuckled. "No, the Cullen's are still here on the compound. Hunting is just what we call it when Edward is out on a supply run. It's a wild world of distributors out there," he laughed.

"A supply run? I don't mean to sound rude, but isn't there someone less… important that could do that?"

Carlisle shook his head. "Edward can be very charming when he wants to be. There is a particular supply carrier that will only work with him. They met with Aro one time and said that if he ever stepped foot on their property again, they'd shoot," he said amused.

"Oh…. well I thought Aro didn't trust Edward enough to let him leave right now?" I asked remembering how Aro had said he was on a time out.

"The truth is that Edward and Aro have an understanding. Edward is the smartest, most gifted doctor here; most of the discoveries are made with his contribution in one way or another, which makes Aro the most money. At the same time, Edward needs this place, especially now, so there isn't any reason for him to go anywhere or try anything. Aro knows he'll always come back, he has no other choice," Carlisle explained.

"So, he'll be back in a few hours then?" I asked anxiously. I absolutely hated knowing he wasn't on the compound; regardless of my confused feelings, I needed him near me in order to feel safe and keep myself from going insane.

"No, he'll be gone for three days. He really didn't want to leave and didn't know he had to until this morning, but we must have those supplies for testing, and I assured him that you'd be fine until he got back."

"Oh, okay," I said casually, even though I wanted to cry.

The days lingered on slowly, though the Cullens were around, so that made it a little better. There was a common room on the A level, which was pretty much only ever used by the Cullens before, but now I was allowed there as well, so when I wasn't being poked and prodded, I was hanging out with them. We mainly just watched movies and played board games, and talked about the lives we wished we could live.

I actually felt even worse about the whole thing, because I was sure that if I wasn't stuck down there, they would have been outside enjoying the time they had instead of keeping me company. But none of them complained…. ever. I suppose with Edward being gone they couldn't really leave the compound anyway. Edward was held responsible for them at all times, and if one of them were to get sick for any reason, he needed to be there to make sure they got what they needed.

In many ways, they were like children. They still looked at the world with wide innocent eyes, and even though Edward wasn't much different than them, he still carried the weight of the world on his shoulders and felt they were counting on him to find their cure.

It made me angry that he was forced to leave when they were awake. He should have been taking them on their latest adventure, not schmoozing some execs who owned the supplies they needed. But the Cullens always made the best out of any situation, and they seemed perfectly content just hanging out together, just like a real family.

"Hey Jasper?" I asked him one evening.

"What's up, Bella?" he said.

"Is Smith really your last name?" I asked thinking it was an obvious pseudonym, but not understanding why he would need one.

He smiled ruefully, as if he had just been caught in a huge lie. "Well, people around here talk, especially those outside the Special Unit."

"Yeah, so?" I asked confused.

"Well, my real last name is Whitlock," he said embarrassedly.

"Whitlock? As in Governor Whitlock of Texas?" I asked surprised.

"Exactly. He's my father."

"Your father? How would a man of that stature let his son be taken the way all of you obviously were?" I asked him.

"Well, let's just say that having a disabled son wasn't beneficial to his political career."

"That's awful," I said disgusted. "So, he… sold you?"

"No, he just sent me away and never checked on me for almost a year. But I was an adult," he shrugged.

"But adults who are severely disabled still have guardians," I said.

"Right, but he kept my existence a secret from the moment I was born. So, once I was an adult, he washed his hands of me."

"Edward said that you didn't have a family who cared what happened to you," I said slowly, realizing that it didn't necessarily mean that he didn't have a family.

"Which is true," he said carelessly.

"Oh Jazz, I'm so sorry," I said feeling horrible for him.

"Nah, we all have sob stories, but if we dwelled on them then we wouldn't be really living in the short time we have. I swear, the other day I felt like I went to sleep, and when I woke up I had grey hairs."

"No you don't," I said with a smile thinking he was joking.

"Do so. Look here," he said and leaned over so I could see the tiny grey hair on the side of his head, which could have just been blonde.

"Oh, that's nothing," I said with a giggle.

"Tell that to Alice. She asked me if she could dye my hair," he said disturbed.

"And what did you say?" I asked him.

"Oh come on, by the time I wake up the next time, it'll be grey again," Jasper said jokingly annoyed by my question.

"Unless," Alice jumped in, "you want to dye it for him when he's unable to," she said to me with a wink.

"Uh…" I had no idea how to respond to that.

"No thank you," Jazz said quickly.

"Babe?" Alice whined.

"Alice, she can't," Rosalie chimed in. "She's pregnant and she's not supposed to be dealing with all those chemicals."

"She can wear a mask. We have tons of medical masks around here, it shouldn't be too hard. Please, please, please," Alice begged.

I sighed. It was really hard to say no to Alice, especially when she looked at me like that.

"If Bella is willing to do it, then I don't care," Jasper gave in.

"Sucker!" Emmett teased him from where he and Rose were playing Scrabble on the other side of the room.

Alice ignored him and raised her eyebrows at me, waiting for an answer.

"Of course I'll do it. As long as you're really ok with it?" I asked Jasper.

"Whatever makes her happy. And I guess it won't really matter to me, I won't even know what's going on."

"Will it scare you?" I asked concerned.

"No. My disease attacks my senses, so I won't even feel it. I won't see anything, hear anything, I won't even smell the hair dye," Jasper said lightly.

I had to fight the tingling sensation at the tip my nose which was sure to be followed by tears, because I just hated feeling like there was nothing I could do to help them. I knew they didn't want me to feel sorry for them, or treat them any differently, but it was difficult knowing what they had to endure…. what my child was going to have to endure.

Alice danced off to go ask Carlisle to have some hair dye brought for Jasper, and then Emmett challenged me to a game of Scrabble.

"Uh, no thanks. I'm not much of a Scrabble player," I declined.

"Oh, come on! What's the worst that could happen? I beat you," he taunted.

"Fine," I said with a smirk. Two hours later, Emmett had beaten me twice, and Carlisle returned with a box of hair dye.

"That was quick," I said grateful to have an excuse to be done with Scrabble.

"Well, the nearest beauty store is too far and we don't have time to waste, so I got this from Veronica in the Immune Disorder Division," Carlisle explained.

"Ooo, Veronica," Emmett ribbed Jasper.

"Shut up," Alice hissed.

"Yeah, Emmett," Rose agreed. "Veronica has very nice hair," she said, and then busted out laughing.

"You two deserve each other," Alice said bitterly, and then turned back to Jasper with an excited look on her face.

Jazz's expression became pained, but he didn't protest. He just got up and followed Alice to the restroom. I used to dye my mother's hair all the time when I was growing up, so I didn't need to watch her to see how it was done, so I decided to finish reading the book I had started earlier in the week.

I had six chapters left when they finally came out, both looking absolutely horrified.

"I don't know what I did wrong," Alice said in a panic like a child who just spilled their milk.

Emmett started laughing hysterically again, and Rose was giggling as well, but I had better control of myself.

"Oh, you just didn't mix it all the way," I told her, trying to calm her down. Jasper's hair was a mess. It was blotchy and striped, and not in a cool highlighted kind of way, but I had definitely seen worse. My first attempt at a dye job resulted in my mother's hair breaking off, so at least Jasper's hair wasn't that bad. "I'm sorry, Alice, I really should have helped you," I said feeling horrible. "I thought you dyed your hair all the time?"

"Rose usually helps me with the different color streaks, but I've never done it myself, and definitely never someone's entire head."

"It's really not that bad… for your first attempt," I tried being positive.

"Just tell me how to fix it," she said on the verge of crying.

"We just need more dye," I told her.

Without another word, Alice sprinted out of the room.

"Where is she going?" I asked the others.

"I would assume she's going to find more hair dye," Rose said flatly.

"I really don't know why she's so upset," Emmett said quietly. "It's not like anyone who matters is going to see it anyway.

"You know that she worries about this kind of thing," Jasper said casually, and then went to sit in a chair by the door. "I kind of like it though… It's unique."

"Is that what they call that?" Em said while laughing again.

"Hey Bella, do me a favor," Jasper said to me.

"Okay." I really didn't want to agree to anything else that would upset any of them, but I didn't want to say no either.

"When we all lose it again, wax Emmett's eyebrows…. Those things need some serious attention."

"Uh…" Again, I was speechless.

"Whatever, I hope she does," Em challenged. "If Rose would prefer me with groomed brows, then I'll sacrifice for her." Then he turned to me. "Do your worst, Bella."

"I'm not sure that's the best idea… I don't even know how to wax someone's eyebrows."

He stepped in to whisper something to me "Don't worry about it, waxed or not, they'll be grown back in before anyone sees, so just go with it."

"Oh, gotcha," I said with a wink. "Ok, Emmett, I'll wax them for you," I said theatrically so the others could hear.

"Great… Don't forget to take pictures," Jasper added mischievously.

Shit.

I thought it was best to change the topic, but I wasn't exactly sure how to broach the subject I really wanted to ask. "So, how much… longer do you guys have until you're… not… aware?" I asked, hoping I wasn't offending anyone with my choice of words.

"This morning was our last dose of the medication for this cycle," Rose informed me.

"So…?" I asked unsure what that meant.

"So we'll start to deteriorate as early as tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? Your time is already almost up?" I asked solemnly.

"We've already been here for three days. We need to stop the meds otherwise we'll start building up an immunity to them," she explained.

"God, it's just happening so quickly," I said with tears spilling over my cheeks.

"Wow, you really are pregnant, aren't you," Emmett teased.

"No. I'm always this emotional," I joked back.

Unfortunately, Carlisle couldn't find anyone in the compound with anymore hair dye that we could use, so I promised Alice that I'd take care of it while they were incapacitated. She kept apologizing to him, but after a few minutes, she let it go. Each of the Cullens knew better than anyone to not waste time with regret, so they moved past it and went to bed early that night to have some alone time.

After finishing my book, I too turned in, and spent the night dreading the next day's events. I wasn't around when the Cullens lost awareness before, and I didn't know how I'd handle it. In such a short amount of time, they really became my family and in some ways, I felt like I even knew them better than Edward. I had just barely learned the truth about him and then he had to leave, but spending three days straight with the Cellens was definitely like learning a lifetime's worth when it came to them.

"So, how does it work?" I asked Carlisle the next morning as he did my daily rounds of testing.

"Well, we won't give them the enzyme this morning, and throughout the day, they'll start showing signs of their diseases," he replied casually, as if it was nothing more than a job, or a fact of life.

When I was finished with Carlisle, I went to go look for the Cullen's, but I couldn't find them anywhere. I searched the common room, the labs, I even went by their apartments, but they weren't anywhere. I knew they were probably each spending time with their significant other, and I didn't want to get in the middle of that, but at the same time, I just wanted a chance to say goodbye. So I ended up breaking down and crying inside my apartment kitchen. I seemed to always be crying lately, and it was seriously beginning to annoy the hell out of me. I was never a crier before, so I blamed it entirely on hormones, even though I knew the stress of it all was just as much of a factor.

The truth was that every day in the labs, I became more and more disheartened. Even if I refused to admit it, a small part of me realized the very real possibility that I could die from the pregnancy, and I didn't know if I'd ever see any of the Cullens again. Since I couldn't make peace with my parents, I just hoped that I was able to live to see the people who had quickly become my family one more time.

My crying became more intense the more I thought about it, but suddenly, I wasn't alone anymore.

He wrapped his arms around me, so I turned into his embrace and felt my entire body relax as a response to his closeness.

"You didn't come to tell me you were leaving," I sniveled into his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Edward whispered as he rubbed my back. "You were still sleeping and I wasn't allowed to come here alone to see you."

"But you're allowed to now?" I asked hopefully as I wiped my face with my hand.

He shook his head and gestured towards the opened door; Dimitri was standing in the hall watching us like a hawk.

I wanted to scream and lash out. I wanted to throw every last thing in my apartment at the stupid guard refusing to give us any privacy, but I knew that would just end up causing more problems.

"How are you feeling?" he asked after an awkward moment of silence.

I shrugged. "Just overwhelmed," I said honestly.

He pressed his lips together and narrowed his brows. "I mean, how do you feel physically."

"I know what you meant, but honestly I don't feel anything more than just… helpless."

"But you don't feel overly tired or weak?" he asked sounding way more like a doctor than a concerned expectant father.

"Don't all pregnant women feel overly tired and weak?" I asked a little resentful.

"But more than normal?" he asked starting to get irritated as well.

"Well, I've never been pregnant before, so I don't know what 'normal' would be," I said bitterly.

"Look, Bella, I'm sorry," he said, which just seemed to piss me off even more, though I wasn't exactly sure why.

"Yeah, you keep saying that," I told him and then got up and moved away from him.

"What do you want from me then?" he asked frustrated.

"I want you to stop acting like a doctor for five minutes, and realize that this baby is a miracle and a gift, and not a medical mystery and an automatic death sentence," I told him with an unsteady voice.

He stared at me for a moment, and then sighed. "Come on, I want to show you something," he said softly, and took my hand before leading me out of the apartment.

"Where are we going?" I asked suddenly feeling worlds better but having no idea why. Emmett was definitely right, my emotions were really all over the place.

"It's a surprise," he said with a smile in his voice. We walked with our arms wrapped around each other, and it was like I could finally breathe again. I just needed him, and when I wasn't with him, it was like everything started crumbling down and I began losing hope.

He took me to the common room, and then he opened a door in the corner. It looked like a closet, but when I looked inside, I was surprised to see a wheelchair elevator.

"What's this?" I asked baffled.

"It's where I take them," he said simply. We stepped inside and he pressed the lever making the elevator move up with a jolt. It was a narrow shaft, so thankfully my claustrophobia had been alleviated since my time down there, otherwise I would have been freaking out. But then we came to a stop, and Edward slid open a door which allowed a warm blinding light to engulf us.

I put my hand over my face to shield my eyes from the light, but after a moment, they adjusted and I was able to see again. We were outside, and the blinding light was actually the sun.

I knew I missed fresh air and the vitamin D soaking in my pores, but I hadn't realized that I was actually deteriorating without it. I could feel everything within me perk up and come back to life with each second I stood there.

"Bella, you came," I heard Alice say, so I turned towards her voice just in time for her to slam into me.

"This is where you've all been?" I asked as I noticed the rest of them there as well.

"This is where we always come the last day…. and the first… and whenever we want to be outside without being around the other people here on the compound," Alice explained.

I looked around and tried to figure out exactly where we were, and then I realized that we were on the roof of the Special Unit building. Although it was on a building top, it was actually a garden with grass and trees, and tons of flowers everywhere. The sky was blue overhead, and the sun was warm on my skin, but even more than that, there were bees buzzing and birds chirping. It was simple, yet the most beautiful place I could possibly imagine.

And then I noticed one more important fact, Dimitri didn't follow us up.

"We're alone," I said excitedly. Edward and the Cullens looked around at each other unsure why I'd say we were alone when we were all there together. "You know what I mean, no Dimitri, or Felix, or Aro, or anyone else."

"They aren't allowed up here," Edward explained. "When I made this place, I insisted that it was only for the Cullen's, and they agreed."

"Things are different now though," I said quietly, knowing he was never followed before.

"It doesn't matter. Aro knows I have no way to give you an abortion up here, and we're too high to jump, so there's no point to have his goons come here and disrupt their peace. Especially right now." Edward said quietly.

Alice skipped off and had begun spinning in circles like a little girl, and then she started chasing a butterfly. Emmett and Rosalie were lying back on lawn chairs and bathing in the sun with their fingers intertwined, and Jasper was watching Alice with so much love in his eyes that I felt like I was intruding on a private moment.

"I should probably go," I said quietly to Edward. I was happy to see them again before they went back to their natural state, but I didn't want to interrupt their time.

"Why are you leaving?" Emmett sat up and asked, and then the rest of them turned to look at me questionably as well.

"I just don't…" I was going to say that 'I don't belong here with you', but then Rose stopped me.

"Bella, you're a Cullen now too. You and your baby are in the exact same place we are, so you have every right to be here with us. Even if you weren't sick, Edward loves you, so we do too," she said taking me aback. I never thought of myself as one of them, but Rose was right. Even though I didn't have a disease myself, I was still being tested on and I had something that I may not live through, but despite all that, it felt good to really be a part of them.

"Thanks," I told her sincerely.

Edward sat on an open chair next to Emmett, and just watched the sky. I stared at him for a minute, and for the first time, I saw a glimpse of Teddy in the way the sun danced in his eyes. There was a moment of simple serenity, and I wished I could find a way to keep it there always. He turned to look at me and gestured for me to sit with him, so I walked over and sat on his lap, and he wrapped his arms around me.

We sat there for hours, and no one spoke. Some watched the sky and nature around us, and other's closed their eyes and just listened; I couldn't remember a time or place that was so peaceful. Edward's gentle rise and fall of his chest below my head rocked me in and out of consciousness, and after awhile, I had drifted off completely. When I awoke again, the sky had faded into an array of pale colors, which melted into darkness to the east.

I looked around and saw the others all motionless, and I jumped up in a panic.

"Shh," Edward hushed me quickly. "They're all sleeping," he whispered.

"Are they?" I asked horrified.

He nodded. "By the time they wake up in the morning, the enzyme will have worn off entirely, and they'll be back in their natural state."

"So… you just bring them all down by yourself?" I asked sadly.

"I take care of them, yes."

"I thought they were just 'work' to you when they're like this?" I said with a smile knowing it wasn't true. It was clear how much they meant to him, and I wondered why he tried to close himself off at times.

"When I'm in lab and working on the enzymes, I have to separate it. But when everything is quiet, and it's just me and them... they're my family…. and I'm alone."

I sat back on his lap, and buried my face below his ear. "You're not alone anymore."


	12. Stars and Satellites

**_Chapter 12 – Stars and Satellites~_**

It was a warm evening, so we weren't worried about anyone getting cold, but Edward decided he should get the Cullens to bed anyway.

"I'll be right back," he said quietly, and then disappeared into the sliding elevator door.

I walked over and looked at each of the Cullens to make sure they seemed comfortable, and they did, which only made things that much harder. They looked just like they always did, so it was difficult to imagine that they would be different when they woke up the next morning.

Edward came back with a wheelchair, and brought it over to Rose, who was the closest. The wheelchair had straps and a head support, which were all undone so he could get them in easier.

"Here, let me help you," I said and hurried over to try and get Rose's legs in the right position.

"I got it, you shouldn't be lifting anyway," he said.

"I'm fine, and I don't want you dropping her," I insisted.

"Bella, I do this all the time, I know how to do it safely."

"Ok, you're right, I'm sorry," I told him, realizing that I'd probably just end up getting in the way.

One by one Edward picked them up, put them in the wheelchair, and then brought them down the elevator. It took over an hour, and by the time he reached Emmett, who he saved for last, it was obvious that he was tired, but he never complained.

I watched curiously as he tangoed with Emmett in order to move his massive form onto the wheelchair. All the while, he was careful not to hurt him, or even wake him; it was truly amazing. When Edward finished putting Em to bed, he came back to the roof where I was still sitting and currently looking at the stars. I just couldn't get enough of the awe inspiring beauty of the night sky, and I was so grateful Edward showed me the place; I knew I would have completely snapped eventually if I was never able to go outside again.

Edward didn't even ask if I was ready to go inside, because it was obvious that I wasn't, plus being able to be alone together was definitely not something either of us were ready to give up just yet.

"So how often do you take them out here when they can't come by themselves?" I asked as he came and sat next to me.

"I wish I could say every day, because I know that's what I should be doing, but when they're out, it's really the best time for me to dive into my research. But definitely every few days or so."

"You know, you really put too much pressure on yourself," I told him. "You're only one person."

"Well, I got them into this. I showed them what their lives could be, and I just haven't followed through. I need to figure it all out, and Bella, I promise you, I will. I'll find the cure, and make sure our child is healthy," he said with conviction while looking into my eyes intensely.

"I know you will," I said, sure in that moment that he would. If a cure was possible, Edward wouldn't stop until he found it. I believed that without a doubt, but my only fear was that he'd become obsessed and lose himself in the process.

We reclined on the grass, and stared at the blanket of diamonds above us, and confused stars and satellites. It was hilarious that two scientific minds could be so clueless when it came to deciphering space object, and we spent a few hours just laughing and playfully arguing about it.

"That is definitely a star," he'd say.

"No way, it's moving," I'd argue.

"It only looks like it's moving because the world is spinning. If it was a satellite then it would be moving a lot faster than that," he tried convincing me, but I wasn't buying it.

"Satellites aren't airplanes, and they're a lot further away too. There is no way they would move any faster than that," I told him.

"Yeah, maybe you're right," he conceded. "Do you remember when we were kids…. you said that each star was someone's wish, waiting to be fulfilled?"

"You remember that?" I whispered, feeling like I was going to cry again, but I fought it off because I ached to know exactly what he was thinking in that moment.

He smiled. "After I was brought here, I argued with Carlisle for months over it. He was teaching me about the universe, and when he said that stars were just burning balls of gas billions of miles away, I told him that he was wrong and a liar."

"Are you serious?" I asked feeling bad that he had taken my words so literally and believed in them so strongly that he would get into an argument over it… But I guess, in a way, it made me feel really good as well. I had made some kind of impact on him back then, and that was worth more than gold.

"Even now, I still look up at night and worry about all the unanswered wishes up there," he continued softly. "I always think that if I could just fix one of them… maybe there would be a star falling."

"Stars fall every night," I whispered, but he shook his head.

"Not here. I've stared up that sky every night since the day I first came here, and I haven't seen a single shooting star."

I scooted closer to him and gently placed my finger tips on his jaw, and guided his face towards mine so he'd look me in the eye. What I only saw a glimpse of before, was there full force in his eyes as suddenly Teddy was staring back at me. Of course it was him, and if he had let his guard down before and showed me that side of him, there was no way I'd ever not see it.

There wasn't even a thought to move, but my lips were on his and moving slowly, as if it was uncharted territory. It was the first time that we had kissed since I found out the truth, and it was the first time that I realized my true feelings. I knew I loved Edward from the beginning; it was as effortless as falling. I just closed my eyes and jumped, hoping my chute would open and I'd find my way safely. But that was the moment that I truly allowed myself to feel what had always been there before… a true love for Teddy.

I always played off the intense connection I had for him. He couldn't express himself, and I doubted he could even understand, but our bond went far beyond the limitations that our bodies kept us locked in, and I realized as his lips caressed mine that I was always meant to be with him.

I was never a religious type of person, in science it was hard to be, but had Teddy really died, I knew that when it came to my time to pass away, I would have found him in the next place and we would have been together in that way. Perhaps that was why I always kept myself locked away from finding a real relationship; maybe I could never give my heart because it always belonged to him.

Edward swore that he had nothing to do with me getting hired at KRO, but if he wasn't there, I knew I would have never gone either. I needed him, and somehow we found our way back to each other without even having to leave this world to do it.

"Oh shit!" he yelled, knocking me out of my reverie.

"What?" I asked anxiously.

"There was… a…" he said in disbelief and pointed at the sky.

"Shooting star," I said with a smile.

"Yeah," he breathed.

"See? I was right about the wishes all along," I said smugly.

"So whose wish was just granted then?" he asked amused.

"Mine," I stated.

He smiled, but then got serious again. "Doesn't this whole thing… freak you out a bit?"

"What?" I asked confused.

"Me… Us. I mean, knowing what I was, doesn't it… make you want to stop? I don't want you to be with me because you feel like you have to, or because you're pregnant with my baby, or…"

I pressed my lips back to his, mainly to shut him up. He was beginning to ramble and although I thought it was adorable, I needed him to know what I had just realized. I kissed him intensely, and he returned my movements but still seemed reserved, so I knew it was time to explain.

"I love you, so much more than I could ever truly understand. And I loved you before too. I always pushed away my feelings because I thought they were illogical and hopeless, but… we were meant to be together. It's taken a series of impossible events to get us here, but this is exactly where we were always supposed to be." And then I said something that I never would have thought would ever come out of my lips. "I want you to make love to me, Teddy."

He stared at me for a moment, probably in as much shock as I was, and then his lips were back on mine. It was wonderfully odd that we were outside and didn't have to worry about anyone coming out to see us, because we weren't about to stop at that point. It was the only place we could really be alone, so that was where we wanted to be.

I unbuttoned his pants, and he did the same with mine. We completely stripped until there was nothing left between us. Everything was exposed that night, our bodies, but also our hearts and souls. I felt like we couldn't possibly get any closer, and I knew I truly found my place in the world. It didn't matter that I was a virtual prisoner; I was with him, so I was right where I needed to be.

We slept wrapped up together, outside on that roof all night, and I didn't think his palm left my breast the entire time. I giggled to myself quietly as he started unconsciously kneading it while he slept. He was almost like a teenager in that way; completely obsessed with my boobs as if they were the greatest thing on earth, which was more than fine by me.

The crisp chill of the morning air didn't even bother me as I fought consciousness, I just snuggled closer to him, almost to the point where I was practically under him, using his body to keep me warm. If he was cold, he never complained.

"Good morning," I whispered against his skin after he began to stir.

"It is after waking up like this," he replied with a lazy smile.

"What, with your hand on my boob?" I joked.

He smiled again, except this time it was like a child caught sneaking a cookie. "Of course… you do have lovely breasts, but that's just aesthetics."

"What else is there?" I asked playfully.

I was expecting a witty comeback, but instead he shocked me by becoming serious, however it was in a soft way that conveyed the sincerity of his emotions.

"Sometimes when I see you, especially in moments like this when we're so close that I could feel your breath, I forget where we are and how far we've come. Suddenly I'm fourteen again, and I want so badly to reach out and touch your face, or feel the softness of your skin… and I just can't move. I'm paralyzed, locked in the memory of the way it was before, and for those torturous moments, I hate the world. I hate myself for not being stronger, and I hate you for making me love you so much…"

He paused and was quiet for a time, and my heart was absolutely breaking for him. "Oh Edward," I murmured, but that wasn't the point he was trying to relay; he didn't want my sympathy, he just wanted me to understand what he was feeling.

His hand moved from my breast up my body to my face, where he caressed my cheek gently. "But I'm not helpless. I'm not a prisoner of my own body anymore, and I can touch you. I just don't know what I'd do if I ever lost that ability again. I've been such an… ass about the pregnancy, and I'm sorry… I'm just afraid of losing you."

"I know," I whispered, and it was true, I did understand his fears, but at the same time, it didn't change my feelings on the subject either. He fought for the ability to live, and it was my turn to do the same for our baby, and that was exactly what I intended to continue to do. But despite our opposition on the topic, I could never love him less.

As much as I wanted to stay that way in his arms forever, we both had places we needed to be. I had my morning testing to be done, and Edward needed to go to work in the labs, so we reluctantly pried ourselves apart, and got dressed.

After my testing, I went to visit the Cullens for a while, though it was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. To see them so restrained in their own bodies, was absolutely heartbreaking. None of them could speak, and it didn't seem as though they understood much that went on around them.

They all had various degrees of severity. Most of them were physical disorders which required them to need a nurse's constant attention, so there were two there assigned to their every need. Emmett was probably the best out of all of them. He had an aggressive form of muscular dystrophy, and since the brain is a muscle, he was definitely slower mentally than normal, but he still seemed to have the highest level of awareness. Alice was able to somewhat function, but when looking in her eyes, I could tell she had no idea who I was, and I recalled Edward saying that she never remembered anything from when she was in that state.

But out of all of them, Jasper was definitely the worst. His muscles worked fine, and his brain was fully functional, but none of his senses were able to process anything, leaving him without a way to communicate. He couldn't see, hear, taste, or smell, he couldn't even learn sign language the way Helen Keller did, because he had no way to feel the signs. He basically sat in a black hole of nothingness until he was brought out of it. They had to tube feed him, because there was no way for him to feel his food in his mouth in order to chew and swallow. It was absolutely horrifying, and even if no one else got a cure, I really hoped we'd find a way to make his life a little more bearable.

Over the next couple of weeks, I got used to a new routine. Edward was ridiculously still not allowed in my apartment alone with me, and we weren't about to sleep with someone watching us all night, so we set up a tent and slept on the roof lawn. After making love to him knowing he was Teddy for the first time, I never had any more issues uniting Edward and Teddy into one person again. I saw Edward as Teddy, and when I thought of Teddy, I thought of him as Edward. For the first few days however, I wondered if perhaps I should call him Teddy again, but then I remembered how he told me that Teddy was the name of his medical case, and he didn't want to be known as just a case, so I stuck to calling him Edward.

Every morning we'd crawl out of our tent and sit on the swing they had set up out there, and ate breakfast together. Afterwards, we'd each go to our separate apartments to shower and dress for the day. He went off to his lab work at that point, and I'd have my morning blood test done. I'd then spend the rest of the morning with the Cullens. I mostly just talked to them, or read out loud, just as I had done with Teddy so many years before. Usually, Edward and I would meet back for lunch, sometimes have a quickie, and then we'd go back to lab and work together for awhile.

Carlisle, Edward, and even Aro were all pleasantly shocked that I was doing so well. I was entering my fifteenth week of pregnancy, and actually feeling pretty good. My nausea and tiredness seemed to alleviate, and I was even putting on some weight. They said all the women carrying fetuses with Lytchenstein Kolff Disease were unable to gain any weight - The babies grew, but the mothers were practically starved because of issues with the umbilical cord, but I didn't feel anything that they said I would, which really gave me hope.

When the Cullens were given the enzyme again, the first thing Alice noticed was that I had followed through and dyed Jasper's hair for him, and the second thing she noticed, was that there was definitely a bulge on my abdomen.

"Ooo, time to go shopping," she said excitedly.

"I wish," I said honestly. Though I absolutely hated shopping, getting out of the compound for even a few hours would have been amazing.

"Are your clothes getting tight?" Rose asked excitedly.

"Yeah, but I mostly wear scrubs in the lab, so those still fit, and Carmen picked up some maternity outfits the last time she went out."

"Well, 'some' isn't enough, and those scrubs are hideous. Are you performing surgery?" Alice asked with a disgusted tone.

"No," I said confused. Alice knew exactly what I did, so I didn't understand her question.

"Well, then you don't need scrubs."

"Alice, you know we're supposed to wear them in lab to keep it a germ free environment," I told her.

"So, they're still ugly," she mumbled bitterly.

"I can't believe we're actually going to have a real baby here," Rose said with quiet excitement.

I smiled at her anticipation. "You really like babies, don't you?" I said, realizing just how supportive she had been since the beginning of my pregnancy.

"I've never been able to get too close to one before, but a baby girl smiled at me in Paris once. I wanted to hold her so bad, but the mother was freaked by my tears."

"Babe, she was freaked out because you asked her if it was real or a doll while crying hysterically," Emmett explained.

"They make very life like dolls these days," she said defensively.

"Well you can definitely hold my baby when its born. Who knows, maybe someday you'll even be able to have one of your own."

She smiled sadly. "All of us are sterile. The medication to stabilize the compound destroyed our reproductive capability… That's why your baby is such a miracle. I can't wait to hold him or her."

"Well, if a miracle can happen for Edward, one might just happen for you too," I told her, trying to keep her hope alive, because sometimes hope was all you had to keep you going.

She shrugged. "I'm just ecstatic I get to be an auntie and be able to watch that little one grow up strong and healthy. That's the only miracle I'm praying for at the moment."

"Its what we are all praying for above anything else," Jasper added.

I looked at each of them, and they all nodded with agreement. The conviction in their eyes showed me just how serious they were, and it broke my heart and restored my faith at the same time. How could people in their situation hope for an unborn baby's health before their own? They were all selfless, and I was so blessed to call them family.

Rose took my hands in hers. "And Bella, that's one more miracle I know will come true."

I smiled at her with tears clouding my eyes. "Thanks, Rose. That means more to me than you'll ever truly understand."

.

The next day, I got quite a surprise, which I was never expecting...

"Bella, Bella!" Alice ran to me after my morning lab.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked with a smile.

"Aro said we can go shopping," she said excitedly.

"Oh, cool. That'll be fun for you guys," I said happy for her. "I'm sure Emmett's excited," I added sarcastically.

"No, he's not going. It's just us girls…. and Dimitri, of course, but we'll just ignore him."

"So… you and Rose are going with Dimitri? I thought Edward had to go everywhere with you in case something went wrong?"

"Not this time. We have a different doctor covering that."

"Who?" I asked, but then thinking it was probably Carmen.

"You, silly. Aro said that as long as Edward isn't there to try to sneak you into an abortion clinic, and Dimitri stays with us, then you can come. You're a doctor, so I'm sure you can handle it if one of us gets sick. We're going to spend all day shopping in Milan."

"Uh Alice, I'm supposed to be dead. What if someone sees me?" I asked slowly. I had no idea why I was trying to convince her it was a bad idea, but I just couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that something was going to go wrong. It was like the long weeks I had spent locked up almost made me fearful of the outside world. I had just accepted that I'd never be able to leave and managed to make the best out of it, but then suddenly I was allowed a day pass? Sure I wasn't free, but it was much more than I was ever expecting, and the mere thought of it was a little overwhelming.

"Dimitri is going to sneak us out the back, and everyone else has been denied day passes so there isn't a chance for us to run into them while we're there."

"So… it's really happening then," I asked allowing myself to get a little happier about it.

"Yep," she said with a grin. "Let's go before that big dildo changes his mind."

I stared at her for a moment, unsure if I heard her right. "Did you just call Aro a dildo?" I asked.

"Yeah, and like real dildos, he's a mindless birdbrain that should do the world a favor and become extinct."

I couldn't help but laugh. I tried not to, but it was one of the funniest things I had ever heard. "Oh Alice, you mean a dodo," I said through my laughter.

"Huh?" she asked confused.

"A dodo is the extinct bird you're talking about, not a dildo."

"What's a dildo then?" she asked.

"It's a…. Just never mind," I said uncomfortably. Even though Alice had a very adult relationship with Jasper, I still wasn't comfortably telling her that.

Alice shrugged and then we went to meet Rose and Dimitri. The guys were waiting to see us off, and Edward handed me a kit and briefly explained what to do if one of them were to get sick. We kissed them goodbye, and then the three of us… well four counting Dimitri who was also driving, were off for a much needed day out….

We went to endless shops, and my feet were actually throbbing by the time we stopped for lunch, but I refused to complain. It was absolutely amazing being amongst normal people and actually out in the world again, and I'd take pained feet for the rest of my life if it meant staying out longer.

After lunch, it was on to more shops. Alice and Rose insisted that I buy a ton of maternity clothes, and at first I was a little uncomfortable with spending the company money, but then Rose pointed out that I was there against my will and I was no longer getting paid for the work I was doing in the lab.

"Rightfully, it's your money," Rose said convincingly, so I shrugged and bought the damn clothes.

"Oh, let's go in here," Alice said excitedly as we walked past another maternity store.

"No Alice, I have way more than enough. Besides, I'm not even going to be able to wear all that I have as it is."

"Yes, but you don't have a cocktail dress," she argued.

"And what do I need a cocktail dress for?" I asked amused.

"Trust me, there's always a reason."

I shook my head, but decided not to argue with her illogical logic. We rummaged the racks and they found four dresses for me to try on, so I went into the dressing room and laughed to myself as I slipped on the first one. It was absolutely ridiculous. I was never going to wear the impractical outfit, but I supposed if it made them happy, then I would even be willing to wear it around the common room.

But then our fun ended with an event that would change the course of all our lives….

The door handle of stall I was in started jiggling, so thinking it was Alice with more for me to try on, I automatically went and unlocked it… but it wasn't Alice.

"Oh shit! What the hell are you doing?" I yelled as I tried to cover myself so Dimitri wouldn't see me in my underwear.

"I was just checking to make sure you weren't up to any funny business. You've been in here for awhile," he said, but his eyes never looked higher than my chest.

"Well I'm not, SO GET …" I yelled but then he slapped his hand over my mouth to prevent me from screaming any further.

There was no way in hell I was going to put up with his scummy hand on my lips, and when his other hand brazenly rubbed up my leg towards my inner thigh, I kneed him in the groin as hard as I was capable of.

"You fucking bitch!" he yelled, and then backhanded me in the jaw before pushing me against the wall.

And then it happened. It was so quick that I didn't even realize what had transpired until it was already done. Dimitri lied lifeless at me feet, and Rosalie was behind him holding the large broken mural that had been previously hanging on the wall there.

I stared at her in shock, but she just looked angry.

"Rose, I think you hit him too hard," Alice said casually from behind her, as if it was nothing more than a superficial wound.

"Well, serves him right for attacking Bella," Rose said carelessly as she struggled to re-hang the heavy wall art back where she got it from, but then she realized it was broken and settled for leaning it against the wall next to the stall I had been in.

"How did you manage to lift that thing anyway?" Alice asked her.

Rose shrugged. "It wasn't that heavy when taking it down and using the momentum to swing at his head."

I bent down to look over Dimitri, and noticed the blood beginning to pool underneath him. His neck was severed. She must have gotten him with the corner edge of the frame, and it hit him just right… there was nothing to be done, he was dead.

There was no time to think; I was sure someone must have heard the commotion, so we needed to act fast.

"Rose, take this and go to the car," I told her in a rush and handed her the keys out of Dimitri's pocket.

"Wait, is he…?" Rose asked confused, but in no way upset.

"Yes. Now you and Alice need to go to the car," I said quickly, hoping she'd understand the severity of the situation.

"Are we going to get into trouble?" Alice asked becoming slightly concerned, but nowhere near as much as she should have been. Regardless of Dimitri's vulgarity, he was a human being and he being killed was an absolute horrifying accident, however, in that moment, I didn't have time to stop and be sorry about it. I needed to get Rosalie and Alice away before someone saw the body and detained them for questioning.

"Listen to me!" I told them sternly. Take the keys, go to the car, and find the cell phone in the glove compartment. Call Edward, and tell him what happened. Do not get out of the car until he comes to get you, do you understand?" Neither of them knew how to drive a car, so calling Edward to pick them up was the best option. As long as they stayed there, hopefully no one would bother them.

"What are you going to do?" Rose asked, finally showing some concern on her face.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Just go," I told them, but they didn't move. "GO!" I yelled, so reluctant and confused, they walked out of the dressing room. Less than thirty seconds later, a clerk came in and saw me hovering over Dimitri's lifeless body. She immediately started screaming, and then she ran out, assumedly to call for help.

The obvious thing to do would have been to run with Alice and Rose and then drive the car myself, but I was sure that once someone saw the body, they would have started chasing us, and there was no way we'd be able to outrun the police. At least if I was found with the body, they wouldn't go after them and they'd be able to call Edward for help. They couldn't be detained, their bodies would deteriorate without the enzyme, and then we'd be in an even bigger mess than before. I needed to take the fall for what happened, it was the only way.

Sure enough, the cops came shortly after, and I was brought down to the police station for questioning. I lied and told them that the man whom I didn't know, was trying to assault me and I was only defending myself, which was evident from the fact that he was in the women's dressing room and I had a bruise on my face from where he hit me. But they said I still wouldn't be allowed to leave that day, and it was mainly to do with the fact that I had no ID and couldn't prove my identity. I was obviously not Italian, and had no passport or visa, so either way, I was not going anywhere.

I sat in my cell, and stressed about what was going to happen next. If they figured out my identity, then I would be charged with fraud because technically I had been declared dead. Nobody would believe that I had been kept at the KRO compound against my will. On the surface, KRO was a seemingly stand up company that donated hundreds of thousands of dollars every year to the government. No one would believe that they were covering up murders, and were illegally and unethically experimenting on people.

I wondered if I would be extradited back to the US, and if so, what would happen to my medical care. Even though I had been feeling pretty good physically, Carlisle warned me that I could take a turn for the worse at any time. If I was in jail for whatever they ended up prosecuting me for, how was I going to take care of my baby and ensure it gets the help it needs? How was I going to even live long enough for the baby to be born?

The more I thought about it, the more I started panicking, but then….

"Miss," the guard said, reffering to me. I stood, and he opened the door for me, but I had no idea why. He gestured for me to follow him, and we walked out to the lobby area of the station, and then I saw Edward. He was standing on the opposite side of the room, and it took everything I had within me to not run and wrap myself around him. He glanced over at me, but his face stayed hard as he spoke to one of the officers.

Without a word, Edward walked over to me and grabbed me forcefully by the arm, and led me outside to the car. He opened the passenger door for me, and slammed it shut once I was inside, then he walked around the backside of the car and sat in the driver's seat. His jaw was clinched tightly, and his anger was radiating off his body. He drove out of the parking lot and then continued down three blocks, before pulling the car over to a stop, so I braced myself for his fury. I knew he wasn't going to hurt me physically, but the last time I did something wrong of that magnitude, he became pretty loud.

He got out of the car again, and practically ran back to my side. He opened my door quickly, before pulling me out and holding me tightly against him.

"Are you ok," he asked breathless as he held me securely in his arms. The anger in him completely melted away, and what was left was just worry and love.

"I'm fine," I assured him, and rested my head against his shoulder. It had been a long day, and I was absolutely exhausted.

"Did they hurt you or scare you at all?" he asked anxiously.

"I was scared of what was going to happen, but no one hurt me," I mumbled into the crook of his neck.

"God, Bella, I'm so sorry," he said emotionally. "I had no idea that Dimitri would try something like that. I would have never allowed him anywhere near you if…"

"I'm fine," I told him again. "What about Alice and Rosalie? Did they make it back ok?" I asked concerned.

"Carlisle came with me in a separate car and took them back. They were shaken up a bit, but they'll be fine. Rosalie said she hit Dimitri with a picture frame?" Edward asked, clearly not really believing that something like that could do so much damage.

"There was a big picture hanging on the wall in the dressing room, and she must have hit him in just the right spot. Is he really dead?" I asked in disbelief. The entire thing was so surreal.

"Yeah," he said with a sigh, but didn't seem too upset about it. "It's unfortunate, but I'm not about to lose any sleep over it. Aro is pissed though. He has been scrambling to make sure all this is covered up before anyone else finds out about it, but he's paying a lot of money to the police station in order to do so. I just can't believe I put you in that position," he said with the anger returning in his voice. I realized then that he had never been angry at me or Rose; he was mad at himself, and pissed at Dimitri, Aro, and even the police.

"You had no way of knowing he'd do that," I said, trying to calm him.

"I just should have been more careful with you," he said quietly. He kissed me on the forehead, and then we got back in the car and decided to take the long way back to the compound; just taking our time and soaking in all the beautiful sights of the Italian country side. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that Aro wouldn't allow us back out again after the chaos of that trip.

"I wish we could just keep going," I said wistfully, knowing it wasn't really possible since Edward and the rest of our family's lives depended on KRO.

Edward took my hand and brought it to his lips as he continued to drive us towards the compound. "I'm going to figure out a way to fix all this. I promise," he said determined.

…

The next few days were odd. No one was around to 'babysit' us, so Edward slept in my apartment with me, though I had to admit, I did miss the roof tent a little. I had no idea where Felix was, but it was wonderful not being watched the way we were. We tried to get back to our normal routine, but there was an eerie vibe to the place. Autumn had fallen, and there had been a constant blanket of clouds covering the sky, so the nights were much darker than usual. No stars were visible, and not even the moon could break through the night's nothingness.

The Cullens were put back into their natural state, but when I went to go read to them, as I did normally when they couldn't read for themselves, they weren't there.

"Hey Carlisle, where are the Cullens?" I asked him after going back to lab.

"They're not there?" he asked confused.

"No," I said beginning to get worried.

"Maybe Edward took them to the roof," he guessed.

I shook my head no. "Edward is in lab five, working on Bree," I said solemnly. Edward had been so busy working on case 8339 and a half that he neglected Bree and felt horrible about it, so he decided to dedicate one day per week on her case.

"Let me go ask Aro what's going on," Carlisle said while taking off his gloves. I was going to wait in the lab for him to get back, but something was just nagging me to follow.

I stayed quiet in the hall as Calisle approached Aro so my presence wouldn't interrupt them.

"I've disbanded the Cullen division," Aro said casually.

"What? You can't do that!" Carlisle yelled.

"I can, and I did. With the police breathing down my neck over this Dimitri thing, I can't afford to waste any more money on keeping four people alert. If I thought it was going to actually go somewhere, that would at least be something, but nothing ever changes with them. At least with Edward I'm getting something out of the deal. If he wasn't so damn gifted with all this shit, I'd stop funding his medication as well."

"I thought you paid off the police?" Carlisle questioned.

"I did, but there is a new agent that won't be bought. It's like having a fucking satellite out, this guy is always around watching us," Aro said bitterly.

"Wait, he's here?" Carlisle asked.

"He's been here and questioning everyone. Now people are starting to get suspicious, and if anyone talks about the reclusive 'Cullens', I really don't want to have any evidence lying around… if you know what I mean."

"So, where are they?" Carlise asked.

"You don't need to concern yourself about them. If this cop doesn't back down, then we'll need to pack everything up and get out while we can. Maybe move to Switzerland and start over. Either way, I'm not pouring one more dime into the Cullens."

"These are real people, Aro, you can't just throw them away like they're nothing!" Carlisle said heatedly.

"Fine, then I'll take Edward off his medication," Aro said sadistically, making my heart leap out of my chest. "Between the cost of a week's worth of his medication, and the money I'm spending on a cure for his spawn, we could fund the Cullens for a whole year. Four people mean more than one and a half, right?" he said with a smirk.

"You know we need Edward, and his child could help in our research," Carlisle said getting more and more angry.

"And what have the Cullens done? Absolutely nothing, except kill my head of security and create a firestorm of shit for me. So shut the hell up, and go back to work," Aro said heartlessly.

Carlisle was pissed, but I was devastated. Without Aro's money there was no way to bring the Cullens back, and I was terrified as to what he did with them. I ran to where Edward was, knowing that as soon as he found out what happened, he'd lash out and probably attack Aro. I needed to try to keep him calm, and we needed to figure out a way to find our family...


	13. Judas

**Chapter 13 - Judas**

When I told Edward that the Cullens were no longer going to be funded, I was shocked by how calm he was. He didn't erupt and run off to attack Aro like I was expecting, he didn't even go talk to him about it; he simply nodded, and then continued to work on Bree. A couple hours later, Carlisle, Edward, and I, all met up in my apartment to discuss what we needed to do.

"I've done some research, and I think there's only three places he could have put them," Carlisle started to say, but Edward was looking around the room extremely agitated. "Edward, what's wrong?" he asked him.

"I just think this is a waste of time. I have better things to be doing then worrying about something we can't change," Edward replied curtly.

"Edward?" I said in disbelief. "Your family is missing, and you're just ok with that?"

"What do you want me to do, Bella? We can't leave here; Aro has us against a wall, and he knows it. I can't fight him, or spit on his feet; I can't even curse at him because that won't accomplish anything except to get the funding for my research and medication taken away as well. There's no sense in fighting what we can't change," Edward said heatedly, and I didn't know what to say or even think, so I just stared at him dumbfounded.

And then his eyes darted up towards the ceiling. I scrunched my brows at him, unsure if he did it on purpose or if it was a random eye movement. Once again, I stared as his eyes very deliberately gazed up at the ceiling, and then right back at me meaningfully. As casually as possible, I quickly glanced in the direction he had, and then I saw it; a small black circle coming out of the vent.

Damn it!

For whatever reason, we were being recorded, so Edward was pretending to accept Aro's decision about the Cullens, but needed to act like he still cared somewhat in order to make it believable. I didn't understand what was going on, but I went along with it, because I trusted Edward and knew without a doubt that he had some kind of plan.

"Well… I really hope they're safe, because if something's happened to them, then I don't think I'll be able to forgive you," I replied pathetically. I really was a bad liar, and an even worse actress. I only hoped that Aro was stupid enough to buy it.

The tiniest hint of a smile played on the corner of Edward's lips. No one else would have noticed it underneath the angry façade he was illuminating, but in a short amount of time I had gotten to know him entirely. I knew every look, every expression, and I definitely knew a disguised smirk when I saw one.

"I'll ask Aro about them in a few days. He's an arrogant asshole, but I doubt he'd put them somewhere that they wouldn't be cared for. I have to get back to Bree before she disappears as well," he said in his faux angry tone, and then he stormed out of the room.

"What the hell was that about?" Carlisle asked, having missed Edward's silent explanation.

"I think a lot's going on with him. We just need to give him some time so he can work it all out," I said honestly.

I felt sick knowing that Aro, or whoever, was watching me, and even sicker as I wondered how long the camera had been in there for. A few weeks earlier Edward had promised me that they never recorded people in their apartments, so it had to be relatively new, but how new? Edward and I had been enjoying our private time since we haven't had a babysitter watching us anymore, but perhaps we were wrong and someone was spying on us all along. It made me feel violated and dirty thinking about another person witnessing our intimate moments, but I couldn't concentrate on it very long either, because I was so distraught with worry for our family.

That night, I went to bed alone. Edward never missed a night with me anymore, so when he didn't show at his normal time, I realized that whatever he had planned was going down that night. I couldn't sleep, but I didn't know if there were cameras in the bedroom too, so I lied there awake and faked it. I felt so helpless and I knew that feeling wouldn't go away until all my family was back together again.

Around three in the morning, I heard the door to the apartment creak open.

' _Edward, that better be you'_ \- I thought to myself, too afraid to say it out loud.

"Bella, get up. We're leaving now," Edward whispered in a rush, already knowing I was awake.

I didn't question him, or say a single word. I went into the closet and quickly put my clothes and shoes on, grabbed the necklace my mother gave me for my tenth birthday, and followed Edward silently through the darkness.

He led me through the hall to the elevator, and swiped his card. My heart started racing and nearly took flight when he pressed the button marked G, which I knew stood for 'ground level'.

I never thought I would be able to leave again after what happened with Dimitri, but as we exited the Special Unit building, I had a terribly uneasy feeling that Edward never planned on going back.

How were we going to survive if we left for good?

We walked briskly, but silently to the back gate where there was an empty car waiting. Edward opened the door for me, and without a word, I got in and buckled my seatbelt. He swiped his ID card again, and the gate opened, but when he put his card back down, I realized that it wasn't even his, it was Dr. Keller's.

"How did you get that?" I asked him, finally able to talk as we drove away from the compound.

"I may have chloroformed him," Edward said innocently.

I gasped. "What?"

"Oh, he'll be fine. I know what I'm doing, I'm a doctor, remember?"

"Ok, now that we're alone, tell me what's going on?" I said anxiously.

"I hacked into Aro's computer and found out that he sent the Cullens to a small cheap care facility for the disabled, but he's only paid through the week. I have no idea what's going to happen to them after that. Either way, we need to get them out of there and take them somewhere that we can care for them ourselves."

"Okay… so, after we move them, we're going to sneak back into KRO?" I questioned.

"No. We're not going back," he said seriously, and that's when I realized my fears were correct.

"Edward, if we don't go back, how are you going to get your medication?" I asked as my heart started speeding even more than it already was.

"The day you were detained down there, I started working on this again. I've been producing extra medication and stocking up on it. I have about six months worth, and that'll give me enough time to figure out how to make more somewhere else," he explained.

"But you said the enzyme was too expensive to make?" I asked, grateful he had some medication, but overcome with an all new set of concerns.

"It is, but I've made some good contacts through the supply carriers that I've done business with over the years," he said, taking me aback.

"So, when you were gone those three days, you were actually planning this with them?" I said impressed, and actually feeling a twinge of hope.

"Exactly. Aro is actually pretty stupid; there isn't many supplies that we don't now produce ourselves at the compound, and everything else is delivered monthly. If I wasn't working on a way to get out, there would have been no reason for me to take those trips at all anymore."

"But Carlisle made it seem like you make supply runs regularly. If those meetings haven't been necessary because most supplies are made in house, then what were you really doing when you left all those other times before I got locked up down there?" I asked confused, and then I thought about something - "And what did you mean a minute ago when you said you started working on all this 'again'? Were you planning on escaping KRO before I got detained?"

He sighed. "Yeah, a few years ago."

"Why? I thought you believed in the cause?"

"I did… but then I met Heidi."

Oh.

"What happened to her?" I asked, hoping he'd finally really confide in me on the matter, and surprisingly, he did…

"She was a brilliant cancer research technician, and we were working closely together on a particular case. Unfortunately, much like Bree, that patient couldn't hold the enzyme and he eventually passed… It hit me really hard. He was one of my first losses, and I hadn't learned how to shut off my emotions at that point. I blamed myself and turned to Heidi for moral support, and... I was naive and trusted her completely, so much so that I didn't see what was right in front of me. She found out the truth about me, and at first she… wanted to show me a side of the world I had never experienced before." He cleared his throat in an obvious uncomfortable innuendo.

"Like sex?" I assumed.

He nodded. "Among other things. She took me out and just taught me about stuff that had nothing to do with labs, science, or finding cures… I thought I was in love with her, but truthfully, I was just ignorant about women completely. If a random woman smiled my way, I thought she was attracted to me. At the time, I didn't understand what cheating was and I slept with a few other women, not knowing what I was doing was wrong. But Heidi wasn't angry at me for it, she simply explained monogamy and I never had a problem with it again. Looking back though…. maybe she wasn't as forgiving as I thought."

"So, what happened?" I asked, hoping to move past his sexual history and just get to the part that pertained to our current predicament.

"Well, turned out that she was actually stealing information, and selling it to outside companies. When Carlisle discovered it and told me what was happening, I didn't believe him, and I lashed out calling him a liar. Even after she admitted it to me, I still wasn't willing to turn on her. She had my mind so twisted that I couldn't tell which way was up. She convinced me that Carlisle was corrupt and he was just as power hungry as Aro and Keller. So after she disappeared, I started working on building relationships with these other supply companies, hoping they'd eventually fund me in my own research. I didn't know what happened to Heidi, but I thought that if I had my own company, I could have enough power and clout to force Aro to tell me where she was. And then a man named Garrett Turner, who was the CEO of a cord blood bank and stem cell research company whom I had befriended, told me the truth about Heidi. He said that she had been sleeping with his partner and they were planning to sell me to a Romanian research group."

"Sell you?" I asked horrified.

"This Romanian group wasn't much different than KRO, except they hadn't had any success at all. If they had me, then they'd study me and try to figure out exactly how I'm able to function. Anyway, I had it out with Carlisle and realized that Heidi never really cared about me; she was just using me for money… Much the way Aro does, except at least Aro is upfront about it. I know he's scum, and I know what to watch out for. But I continued my relationships with the supply companies, still thinking one day I'd need their help."

"Have you already talked to them about funding us?" I asked him.

"I've mentioned that I may need financial support eventually. If anyone is trustworthy, it's Garrett Turner, so he's the only one who knows exactly what's going on. We'll go there first. He can't afford to fully support us, but he can give us a place to stay and work, along with the materials we need."

"What about Carlisle? Did you tell him what you're doing?" I asked knowing he'd be worried if we just disappeared.

"I couldn't get him to a place where I was sure that no cameras would be. Aro has become extremely paranoid since that cop's been around, and because Heidi was selling secrets, he's convinced that you've found a way to do it too. Once we get settled somewhere, I'll figure out a way to contact Carlisle and tell him what's going on."

"Edward, what about our baby? Don't we need KRO and Carlisle for when I start getting sick?"

"Bella, I swear, I'm going to take care of you. We need to go pick up the Cullens and get them back to the warehouse that Garrett's secured for us, and then I'm going to figure out how to keep you healthy. I will not fail you," he said with conviction.

"But we don't have the enzymes to bring the Cullens back?" I guessed.

"No," he said solemnly. "But we will take proper care of them until I can recreate the enzymes, and find a way to make them better permanently."

It was all too much for one person to handle, but I believed that if anyone could pull it all off, it was Edward. I would help him, of course, but with the possibility of me getting sick at any time, I wasn't sure how much I'd really be able to contribute.

We were taking a huge risk by running in that way, but we couldn't just stay there and let Aro dispose of the Cullens like he did all the others who he got rid of in the past. Besides, it was only a matter of time before he found a reason to stop Edward's medication and send me away as well. Staying at KRO was no longer an option.

I grabbed Edward's hand as he drove us further and further away from KRO, and despite all the uncertainty, I was so happy to know that we were never going back to that place.

After about thirty minutes, he pulled into a business complex, and stopped the car.

"Are we here?" I asked confused.

"No, we're just changing cars. I bought a special needs van that can transport all four of them at the same time," he said quickly, and then we gathered our stuff, and went to the van which was parked in the dark corner of the lot.

"How are we going to get them out without cueing in Aro?" I asked as we drove back onto the highway.

"I'm just going to go in there and take them… And then we're going to leave the country," he said unexpectedly.

"I thought you said we had a place?" I asked.

"We do, but its back in The States. Garrett only has a branch out here, but his headquarters are just outside Jacksonville."

"Edward, how are we going to get them on a plane? Do they even have passports? I know I don't, at least not a valid one since I'm supposed to be dead," I said, starting to panic again.

"We don't need them; I have a friend who's a pilot, and he's flying us to the US. He'll land in an uncontrolled private airport, and no one will even check our identity or ask questions. Everything will be fine, I promise."

I had complete faith in Edward so I tried to relax, but it was difficult to not stress over everything that could go wrong. We pulled up to a special needs care facility a little while later, and I was horrified at how run down and dirty it looked. There were even broken windows, but I still worried how Edward was going to get them out.

I stayed in the van while he went inside, but it struck me as odd that the place wasn't locked in the middle of the night. Ten minutes later, Edward not only came out pushing Emmett in a wheelchair, but he also had a woman walking behind him pushing Alice. I looked at him surprised, but he just shrugged and loaded them in the car before going back for the others.

When all four were strapped in, we set back out on the highway.

"How did you manage that?" I asked astounded.

"I just paid them a hundred Euros a piece, and they gladly let me take them."

"That's it?" I asked surprised by the low amount.

"Did you see that place? A hundred Euros is a lot for them," he said jokingly, but was probably accurate.

It was a long trip, but the fact that Alice kept laughing innocently, definitely put me at ease, even if only a fractional amount. Just as Edward promised, we got onto the airplane with no problem, and we were flying over the Atlantic Ocean as the sun lit the sky.

By the time we landed in Florida, it was just about dinner time and everyone was getting anxious to get off the plane; everyone, except for Alice, who just kept randomly laughing as if she knew way more than she was letting on. Emmett was the only one capable of understanding anything, and he seemed troubled; Rosalie was quiet, and Jasper was expressionless.

When we finally got off the plane, a bearded man with dark blonde hair was waiting for us with a kind smile. "You made it. Any issues?" he asked Edward as they greeted each other with a half hug and handshake.

"No, everything went fine. Thanks for picking us up. Garrett, this is Bella. Bella, this is Garrett," Edward introduced us.

"I'm glad to finally meet you. Edward has spoken very highly of you," Garrett said while shaking my hand.

"Um, you too," I replied uncomfortably.

Garrett took us to his compound where there was a nurse waiting to help with the Cullens. After everything was situated with them, Garrett showed us where Edward and I would be staying. I was a little uneasy about leaving the Cullens with someone we didn't know, but Edward trusted Garrett, so I had to too; we didn't really have any other choice.

In our new home, we didn't have the luxuries that were available at KRO; no TV, or kitchen, but we had a bed and a place to stay together, and that was all that really mattered.

"So, what now?" I asked Edward as we settled in. It wasn't yet dark, but it had been a long time since we slept, and we were exhausted.

"Garrett set up a small work space with most the supplies we need for the time being, and first thing in the morning we'll start doing as much as we can," he told me.

I watched with a strange new appreciation as Edward took out a medicine bottle and popped a tablet in his mouth, before washing it down with a bottle of water. I never loved any medication or inanimate object more than I did that tiny pill which allowed Edward to live as normally as possible. I studied the bottle in his hand, and a tiny part of me was scared to death that he'd drop it and we'd lose some of the pills, thus losing time. But when he replaced the cap and put the bottle down, I immediately sighed and thought to myself how silly I was.

For the next few days, we kept busy by trying to set up a makeshift lab, but it was hard to get used to such conditions. Garrett came and helped us any way he could, and his fiancée Kate, who was a biochemist, came and helped as well. It was strange how fast I grew to trust Kate and Garrett, but I suppose when you don't have anywhere else to turn, strong bonds can form quickly.

I began feeling exhausted every day, and although I convinced myself that it was only due to stress, in the back of my mind I worried that I couldn't run from my baby's illness anymore. My stomach continued to grow, and I was still able to eat and feel nourished, but my energy was definitely decreasing with every passing day. Edward insisted that I rest more, so I found myself going to bed earlier, and sleeping in later.

And all too soon, I abruptly realized that I was right in thinking that I couldn't keep running from the disease, but I just never expected what came next…

"Bella, come quick!" Kate said one evening after I had already gone to bed. I woke up with a start, and immediately jumped up and followed Kate back to the lab. I had yet to be confident in our escape, so I was always on edge that someone would find us, and that's what I figured had happened.

I didn't ask Kate what was wrong because we obviously didn't have time to stop and talk about it, so we just ran in silence across the facility to where our lab was. As soon as we went inside, I saw Garrett and Edward standing in the far corner, huddled together, but I couldn't tell why.

"What happened?" I asked finally.

"Damn it, Kate, I told you not to wake her!" Edward said agitatedly.

"Dude, you need help," Garrett said, making my stomach leap into my throat.

"Help with what?" I asked, hoping that it was something to do with a question he had with genetics, though knowing Edward, I was fairly certain that wasn't the case.

"Nothing, I'm fine," Edward insisted.

"His hand went numb, and then his face had spasms," Garrett explained.

"Oh my god," I said while running to him. I looked over his hands, and then checked his pupil dilation, but he shrugged me off and walked a few feet away in order to get out of my reach.

"I'm fine," he repeated, but I still didn't believe him.

"Edward, what's going on?" I asked trying to keep calm but failing miserably.

"Nothing is wrong, go back to bed."

"I'm not leaving you like this," I persisted.

"Bella, you need your rest," he urged, but something was definitely wrong.

Every day that followed his health declined, and all my years in medical school couldn't help me figure out a way to help him. But very quickly I became terrified as I realized that his symptoms pointed to one thing… Lytchenstein Kolff Disease. _It didn't make sense - his pills were supposed to prevent that…right?_

Out of pure frustration, and desperation, I grabbed one of Edward's pills and brought it to the lab so I could analyze it, and was absolutely horrified at what I discovered.

"They're nothing but placebos," someone said from behind me. I turned around and was relieved to see Carlisle standing behind me.

"Oh Carlisle, thank God! When did Edward contact you?" I asked, feeling like everything was going to be ok. Surely if anyone could help Edward, it was Carlisle.

"He didn't," Carlisle said strangely. "And he doesn't know that the pills he's been taking are nothing but sugar tablets."

"So how did you find out?" I asked him, assuming that Aro had to have discovered Edward's plan and somehow switched the tablets.

"What are you doing here?" Edward asked as he came into the room.

Carlisle sighed. "I'm glad you're safe, son. You have no idea how worried I've been."

"You did-didn't answer m-my question," Edward said, scaring me even more from the way his words were beginning to slur. "I never told you where I wa-was going."

"Of course I figured it out. Garrett is your best friend outside of the Cullens, so there are only so many places you could have gone," Carlisle explained.

"What's hap-hapening to me?" Edward asked, hoping Carlisle would know.

"Those pills are fake. Your disease is returning, and much quicker than I anticipated," Carlisle said, confusing me even more. "I would have thought years' worth of the medication in your system would have built up and lasted longer. Well, at least it was slower than the rest of them. It's been what, two weeks?"

"Carlisle, why do you seem so calm about this? Did you bring the right medication for him?" I asked hopeful, but he ignored me.

"I've dedicated my life to you, Edward. I've worked for years upon years, watched my wife die, gave up all my friends and family, and for what? For you to just abandon me and steal my other children."

"Carlisle, what are you talking about?" I asked, sincerely hoping that I was misunderstanding what was going on. Neither he, nor Edward, answered me, or even looked in my direction. They just stared each other down while Carlisle continued.

"I knew what you were planning. Do you think I didn't see you making extra meds in the lab. I knew the moment that Heidi was gone that you'd plan something. Well, let me assure you, she's no longer alive for you to save."

I watched Edward's face for his reaction, but he didn't even flinch. His face was set in a hard mask of anger.

"I had hopes for you. I always wanted what was best for you, Edward. What father wouldn't? I was happy when you met Heidi. I wanted it to work out for you, but she wasn't a good person. I know you know that now. And when Miss Swan came around, I had even higher hopes for her. You two had a past, and I really believed it would work out. And then we got a miracle - that little baby. But son, you running is not going to solve anything. You need to come home and let me take care of it."

"You swit-switched…my med-medication?" Edward said with a broken voice. His head fell into his hands as he rubbed his forehead forcefully, trying to clear his mind and really understand what his pseudo father had done. "Why?"

"I just told you why. You were never supposed to leave, Edward. We need you there. You need to be there. This is just proof that you can't ever be out on your own. Whatever discoveries we make, we'll make them together," Carlisle said, thick with faux compassion in his voice.

I had never been so angry in all my life. I was so mad that I could feel the tips of my ears burning because of it. Whatever Carlisle did, and whatever part he had in trying to keep Edward at KRO, was definitely a betrayal of the worst kind.

"How could you do this?" I screamed. "We trusted you, he loves you like a father! Do you understand how sick you could have made him?"

"Did… did you send the Cullens aw-away?" Edward asked him calmly.

"No. Aro did that, but he explained it more thoroughly, and I have to say that I agree with him, just like I agreed when he had Heidi removed from the equation. Edward, we're running low on our finances, and we had to make budget cuts. It was them or you. Just come back, and give it some time. Maybe after we deal with Bella and the fetus, we can talk about bringing them back."

"Aa-roo, wasn't going to… bring them back, he o-only paid fo week," Edward argued.

"Let's go home, and we can talk about it there," Carlisle said and then stepped forward to grab him by the arm.

"I am… n-not going anywhere!" Edward said as sternly as possible, and feebly tried to pull his arm away. "We're close to finding the lin-link. Give me my damn pills, so I can figure it out."

Carlisle shook his head and a disappointed expression crossed his features. "I'm sorry, Edward, but like I said, I've worked much too hard and long for it to all just go down the drain now. If you want the pills, then come back to Volterra."

Edward shook his head, "I..am …not going any-anywhere."

"Well I was hoping you'd come on your own. But it doesn't matter, Felix and his team will be here soon to bring you back." Carlisle pulled Edward toward the door, and he was too weak to put up much of a fight, so I did the first thing I could think of - I punched Carlisle in the jaw.

Carlisle never let go of Edward, but grabbed my face with his free hand. "You know, I've been fighting with Aro over what to do with you when the fetus is delivered. I told him to leave you alone because you were a warm body for Edward to unload in and calm his nerves, but maybe he was right, maybe we'll dump you in the same landfill Heidi is rotting in," he said in a tone I never heard from him before. It was menacing and sadistic.

"You son of a bitch," Edward said as clearly as he was capable of, and started thrashing around to try to attack him, but the disease had taken over too much for him to really do any damage.

"I am your creator. Without me, you'd be nothing more than a sniveling, disease ridden, ignorant child, and probably dead by now. You are nothing without me, just… OWWW!" Carlisle crouched over in pain as a result of my knee coming in hard contact with his crotch.

"Bella, I have a car waiting!" I heard Kate yell from outside. I hesitated, not sure if running again was something we should be doing. Carlisle just threatened my life, but if we ran, Edward's disease would take over again.

"Let's g…" Edward tried saying.

"But you're medication?" I argued.

Edward shook his head.

"What about the Cullens?"

"We'll take care of them," Kate said as she ran to us to help me with Edward.

"Like hell you will," Carlisle groaned as he started recovering himself. Kate suddenly pulled something out of her pocket, and then pointed it at Carlisle.

Did she seriously have a taser gun?

"Garrett gave this to me in case I ran into any trouble, and this definitely qualifies as trouble," she said and fired the taser at Carlisle. I wasn't sure where Garrett had gone, but I was certainly glad he gave Kate that gun.

As Carlisle continued to get shocked under Kate's wrath, I helped Edward to the car. The Cullens were in a hidden location, so my only hope was that Carlisle wouldn't be able to find them. I felt horrible for leaving them like that, but he only came for Edward, if he really wanted the rest of them he would have never allowed them to be sent away in the first place.

"I promise, they'll be ok!" Kate yelled after us as I climbed in the driver's seat and sped away.

I had no idea where to go, but I had a full tank of gas, and I wasn't about to stop until it ran out.


	14. We Go Together

**Chapter 14 - We Go Together**

I drove until I was too exhausted to drive anymore, but unfortunately, we didn't have any time to grab some money, so I had no choice but to pull over on the side of the road to sleep. Edward was already out, so I just reclined my chair and reached over to rest my hand on his chest.

I awoke a few hours later, and noticed that Edward's face had changed. It wasn't drastic, but the muscles there were definitely weakening. I caressed my hand across his cheek, so he opened his eyes, but he looked confused.

"Edward, what's wrong?" I asked him softly, but worry was laced heavily in my words.

"I..I'm… just tired," he mumbled roughly. "Ev-everything is fine." Even at that point, he was still trying to convince me that he was going to get us through it, but I couldn't help the hopelessness I felt. The amount of pain in his eyes from just trying to form cohesive sentences was obvious, and it was gut wrenching. Before his disease began to consume him again, he had only just begun to recreate the formula for his medication, but it was so complex that even if it was complete it would take me years to decipher myself … and I knew he didn't have years.

And in that moment, I felt my baby kick for the first time. I was so overwhelmed by everything that I just broke down and started sobbing, right there on the side of the road. I could see Edward staring at me wide eyed, knowing he couldn't even control his body enough to reach over and console me. He was frustrated, and I was terrified, and I had no idea what to do next.

On top of everything else, I was almost out of gas.

I drove to the next town, and rode on fumes to a convenience store, where I parked and knew the car wouldn't be moving from that spot.

I sat there, still with tears rolling down my cheek, and I considered my options. I could panhandle and maybe get enough money for a little more gas, but really, what would that do? I looked around and was surprised to see a phone booth. With all the cell phones and other technology, most phone booths were taken down, so seeing one there was like a sign.

"I'll be right back," I told Edward. He just stared at me curiously, but didn't try to speak to ask where I was going.

I got out, walked to the phone, and like when I was trying to figure out the case numbers, I just stared at the keys. I didn't know what I was doing, and had no idea who to call, but I was positive that if I just stared long enough, something would come to mind.

I really wanted to call my dad. Even though I was a doctor and had gone to school longer than him, I still had the childhood sense that he was the smartest person in the world, who knew everything and could do anything. I wanted to be back at home in Forks and let my dad take care of me, but I knew that wasn't an option. He not only thought I was dead, but Washington was also where Carlisle would go to look for us. He knew my history, so he'd assume I'd take Edward somewhere I felt safe and comfortable. I needed to go somewhere they wouldn't know; somewhere we could be completely anonymous.

I left the phone booth, and sat on the bench in front of the store. I should have gone back in the car to be with Edward, but I really couldn't face him in that moment. I just needed a couple minutes alone to try to figure everything out.

Across from the convenience store there was a rundown strip club, and for a brief moment, I actually considered applying for a job there, even for just the night. I knew a few people who paid for medical school that way, and although I always was disturbed by it, at that moment, it didn't seem all that bad. But then another gentle kick from my baby reminded me that no one would pay to see a pregnant woman strip.

But I wasn't past begging, so I tucked in my shirt, pushed out my stomach as far as it would go, and sat on the corner of the nearby intersection to ask people for money. It was one of the lowest moments of my life, but my life, was exactly what it was for. I did what I had to for Edward and our baby, and I'd do it every day for the rest of my life if I must.

Every hour or so, I'd go back to the car and check on Edward, but by the end of the day, I was surprised to have made two hundred bucks. Of course, half of that came from a woman who saw my stomach and lectured me for thirty minutes about how drugs and alcohol would make my baby physically and mentally disabled. I was so stressed that I almost laughed at her because I didn't need any of that for my baby to be born with issues, but I kept it to myself and promised her that I wasn't going to use the money to intoxicate myself in any way.

Since getting more gas was pointless because we had nowhere to go anyway, I just used the money to pay for a night in a cheap hotel room, and the rest went to food.

"You need to eat," I told Edward that night when he refused to eat what I had bought him. I knew it was getting difficult for him to chew so I just got cans of soup, but he still refused.

"You eat," he told me.

"I bought enough for both of us," I argued.

But he just shook his head no.

"Damn it, Edward, I can only help you if you're willing to try!" I snapped out of pure frustration.

He just shook his head again. It was like he was giving up, and it was making me desperate. "Please eat," I begged. "I need you to stay as strong as possible until I come up with some kind of plan."

"I ha-have something in m-my…"

"What?" I asked, unsure of what he was trying to say. He seemed like he was attempting to get into his pants so I assumed he needed to use the restroom, but then he shook his head no. So I stuck my hand inside his pants to see if something was bothering him, and sure enough there was a folded up piece of paper tucked into the waistband. "What's this?" I asked him.

A hint of a grin played on his lips. "My bu…bu …bucket lll-list."

I smirked at him despite myself, and started unfolding it. I assumed he wanted me to read it which was why he asked me to take it out, but I watched his face as I smoothed the paper straight, just in case.

"Do you want me to read it out loud?" I asked him.

"I..I.. all-already nnn- know what it says," he replied.

"Okay," I said softly, and then I looked down at it. The paper was obviously old, but upon closer inspection I noticed that it was a page ripped out of his journal, dated several years prior.

I took a deep breath, and then I started silently reading Edward's words….

 _'Liam Connelly died today, and even though that sort of thing seems to happen a lot around here, his death was much more difficult for me. He was here being treated for his cancer, but he had known a cure wouldn't be found in time for him, so he decided to make a bucket list. I didn't understand what it was in the beginning, so after explaining it to me, he asked that I would take his list on as my own, and add to it. He told me that terminally ill people aren't the only ones who should live to the fullest - everyone should. He was never able to complete his list, so I promised him I would do the things he never got to, as well as add my own. But there is really only one thing I'd want on such a list, so I took what he had written, and added the one thing I wanted as my number one._

 _10\. Take a helicopter ride._

 _9\. Go zip lining._

 _8\. Visit a wildlife refuge._

 _7\. Build a huge garden._

 _6\. Swim with sharks.'_

"Wait a minute," I said, looking up from the piece of paper after realizing the trend. "I thought those were the other Cullen's choices for excursions?"

Edward shook his head. "I…I… used to ree-read to them when they fir-first be-came aware. They… had no idea… what to pi- pick to do… before. They've all… all made ch-choices based on stories I've rea-read," he explained.

I smiled at him, but he gestured for me to keep reading his list. "Okay," I said, and then looked back down at the old paper.

 _'5. Go skydiving._

 _4\. Spend a day training at a military boot camp._

 _3\. Learn forgiveness._

 _2\. Learn to accept what cannot be changed, but still remain open to miracles._

 _1\. Find Bella and tell her that I love her.'_

I looked back at Edward with tears distorting my vision, and he forced his hand to move to the top of mine.

"I..I… had a good lll-life," he said difficultly. I could tell that he was trying to focus even harder than before, just to say exactly what he wanted to say and as clearly as possible. "I..I..did… every…thing… I want-wanted. I love you… Bella Swan … Mmm-my… biggest regret, is that I couldn't…. be with you lon-longer. I'm… so… so… sorry, I fa-failed you."

"No, you didn't fail," I cried. "This isn't the end… You're going to be fine. I'm going to…"

But he shook his head. "Be… lla… go. Y-you neeee - need to… help..baby… It's time…to… leave meee," he fought the words out, and each one was getting harder and harder for him. He was losing the battle, and he was losing it quickly.

"I'm not leaving you," I said sternly.

"Fff-oor... baabe," he insisted, and I realized that perhaps he was right. He was losing his fight, so I could do nothing but lose mine as well.

"I can't," I told him, feeling completely defeated. "Why don't we just…. stay here until it's over," I said despondently. "Your disease is fatal, and not many woman and fetuses survive long enough for the babies to even be born, right? So… let's just… stop."

I could see that it took every ounce of energy he had, but he shook his head no. "You... can-can't gi… upp. You will not d. . Go… find h-ha-hospital… tell baby sss-sick. Tell disease…. My mother lived… you will too."

"I can't do this without you," I whispered though my tears.

He looked deep into my eyes, and nodded. It wasn't a nod in agreement, it was a nod of conviction.

"Live… for me," he murmured, no louder than a breath. "Please."

We stared at each other, and without a word, so much passed between us. I loved him more than anything; he was my entire life, my soul, and I had no idea how I would ever be able to even move without him. How would my heart continue to beat if he was no longer there? I thought about what it was like losing him before, when he was just Teddy, the boy who I never fully understood. Losing him after everything that had happened between us, would be impossible.

As much as I wanted to give him peace and let him pass on to the next place, I was far too selfish and refused to do it.

"No," I said, forcing my tears to stop. I would not lose him, not again. I'd follow him anywhere, and I would not leave to a place that he couldn't come. We were together, two halves of one, and I refused to see it any other way.

"Beel..laa." He tried to be stern, but couldn't speak anymore. It had come to the point where he soon would lose the ability to chew his food all together, and if the disease itself didn't kill him, he'd die of starvation. It was all happening so fast, and I was absolutely terrified.

And the next morning…. it ended.

I was trying to convince him to eat the pudding I had bought, but suddenly he gagged and then his whole body started convulsing.

"EDWARD!" I screamed. I knew it was going to end, but I wasn't expecting it to happen like that. I thought he'd just drift off in his sleep, and then I'd bear the agony of living the next few weeks or months without him before I succumbed to the disease. I never thought he'd have a seizure and be in that much pain.

"No, I'm not ready yet! Tell me what to do!" I cried as I held onto him and tried to restrain him from hurting himself as he shook violently. I started crying harder, and I had no idea how much time passed because my vision went blurry, and every inch of my body started going numb… But then door busted open behind us.

I was absolutely petrified as an EMT pushed me to the side, and began working on Edward. I hadn't realized how loud I had screamed when he first convulsed, but obviously it was loud enough to alert the neighbors, and one of them must have called for help.

"No, you can't…" I started to say as they loaded him on a gurney, but I stopped when I realized that they'd be taking him to a hospital. I was sure that all would result from that was them making him comfortable so he could die more peacefully, but I couldn't ask for anything more in that moment.

"Ma'am, can you tell me what happened? What's his name? Is he your husband?" A paramedic was asking me, but I was in such a daze that I couldn't even really understand the words he was saying. Since I didn't answer him, he started asking me the same questions in Spanish, and when I still didn't answer him, he gestured for me to get into the ambulance so I could ride with him to the hospital.

I was so out of it that I didn't even realize when the ambulance stopped. One of the EMTs had to nudge me in order to get me alert enough to get out of the van.

I followed absently as they rushed Edward through the hospital ER, and watched helplessly as they continued to work on him.

"Adult Caucasian male, convulsions, possible seizure, unresponsive…." the paramedic informed the ER doctor.

"Ma'am, you need to wait in the hall," a nurse told me, and guided me back before shutting the door in my face. Being forced apart from Edward finally knocked me out of it and I knew I needed to explain his condition…

"So, you really expect me to believe that Mr. Dwyer has Lytchenstein Kolff Disease?" the head doctor asked skeptically.

"Yes, that's what I'm telling you," I said, getting angry that he didn't believe me. I told them that Edward's name was Anthony Dwyer, because they insisted on a name and that was my first thought. I knew I couldn't give his real name, or the name Cullen, or even my last name, so all that I could think of was his middle name Anthony, along with my grandmother's maiden name, Dwyer. I also said he was my brother. It felt odd saying that, but the truth was that with his disease, no one would believe that he was ever well enough to have a girlfriend, or wife, or get anyone pregnant, so I kept all of that to myself. I could have told the truth, but that too would have been unbelievable and probably get them to have security remove me from the building.

"Ma'am, with all due respect, do you even know what Lytchenstein Kolff Disease is?"

"Yes. Do you?" I asked him strongly, which made him raise his eyebrows at me stunned by my boldness. "Don't be too upset about it, most doctors haven't heard of it. It's extremely rare, and yes, he has it."

"Listen, I know exactly what that disease is. I taught a course in rare disorders at Harvard, and I know for a fact that no one has lived to adulthood," the doctor argued.

"Well, I guess you don't know for 'a fact', because that's exactly what he has. Run a genetic test, and then come back here and we can discuss it," I said fiercely. The doctor just narrowed his eyes at me, and then turned and walked away.

I hated not being in control, but I hated even more that we were at the mercy of those inept doctors somewhere in small town America.

They somehow managed to get Edward stabilized, but he was sleeping, so I sat by his bedside and wondered what would happen next. We didn't drive very far, and Carlisle could guesstimate our whereabouts based on the car we were using and the direction we went in, so if we managed to live through the next week or so, I was positive that we would be found.

A major part of me wanted to figure out a way to get out of there, and if Edward had his medication plentifully available, I would never stop running. I'd use every last breath I had to fight off Carlisle, Aro, and the whole KRO organization. If I was confident that I'd eventually find the cure and Edward would live long enough to see it, I'd find the strength and the will to fight for both of us, but I didn't have that assurance, and I just wanted it to all be over.

"Uh… Miss?" the doctor said, waking me. I didn't know that I had been sleeping, but I did feel slightly better from the rest, regardless of the creak in my neck from the hard chair I was on.

"Yes?" I asked, wiping the drool off my face. Normally I would have been horrified, but I just didn't care what that doctor thought, especially in that moment.

"I'm sorry for arguing with you before. The tests came back, and turns out that your brother does, in fact, have Lytchenstein Kolff Disease," he said sheepishly. I nodded an 'I told you so', and then he continued. "Now, this is way beyond anything we're equipped to handle at this facility, so we'd like to transfer him to Jacksonville Memorial."

"No!" I said a little too fast and loud. "We can't go to Jacksonville," I told him, knowing that was way too close to where we had encountered Carlisle last. If we were going to be moved, we needed to move forward, not back.

"Okay," the doctor said a little confused. "Well, to be honest, we'd really like to send him to Arizona."

"Arizona?" I asked wondering why he'd want to send us there.

"Well, one of the few doctors who specializes in Lytchenstein Kolff Disease is based out of Phoenix, and they have the best staff that Anthony could possibly get to care for him."

I was completely taken aback. I never expected them to want to send us to Phoenix, even if it did make sense. Of course the best Lytchenstein Kolff Disease doctor was there, that was why the Masens moved there in the first place. I wondered if they still lived there, or if they moved on after they thought Teddy died. The last time I spoke to Liza was years before, so they could have been anywhere.

"What's our other options?" I asked, even though the idea of going to Phoenix was extremely tempting. I wanted the best care for Edward as possible, and those were the doctors that kept him living into his teenage years, which was much longer than most.

"Well, we can send you to Stanford in California, Mercy in Washington, or Holy Trinity in New York City."

I considered it for a moment, and decided that New York was our best bet. I was from Washington, so Carlisle might assume I'd take Edward there, and Stanford was a research hospital and with everything we had been through with KRO, anything to do with 'research' rubbed me the wrong way. But it really didn't matter where we went, I knew it was only a matter of time until we were found by KRO regardless; I only hoped if we were at a big enough hospital, they wouldn't be able to do anything to us.

"I'll make the arrangements, and you should be on your way by tomorrow morning," the doctor said with a kind smile. I actually felt bad for snapping at him earlier, he actually seemed very nice.

They kept Edward sedated all night and the entire trip the next day, just because they weren't sure why he had the seizure in the first place, and didn't want to risk anything until they could get him to a more qualified hospital.

It was another long trip, but at least I felt secure that no one was following us at that particular time. When we arrived in New York, however, Edward was immediately whisked away faster than I could follow.

"Are you Miss Dwyer?" A chubby little woman wearing a floral nurses' uniform, asked.

"Yes. Where did they take my brother?" I asked in almost a panic.

"Just to get him situated in his room so the doctors could look him over. Miss Dwyer, I really need your brother's medical history and social security number. If we're going to give him adequate care, we need to know where he was previously treated, and what medication he was on."

"I'm sorry, I don't have that information for you. I… I… I haven't been with him all along. I separated from the family, and then my parents died in a house fire, and I was called to take care of him. All that information burned in the fire," I told her, and was rather impressed with my spur of the moment lie.

"Um… okay, but the care facility he was in should have had his records," the nurse challenged me.

"He wasn't in a care facility. His day nurse had taken him out for a walk… well, she was walking, he was being pushed in his wheel chair… of course. Anyway, while they were out, the house caught fire." My lie had taken a turn for the worse, and the nurse grew suspicious.

"The house caught fire and killed your parents… while he was out for a walk?" she asked in disbelief.

I knew it was unbelievable, but I couldn't back down at that point. "Yes… there was a gas leak, and my dad lit a match. Boom, they were both dead in a matter of minutes, and it was very difficult thing to process and I'm still dealing with it," I said quickly, and then proceeded to fake cry.

The nurse knew my story was bogus, but there wasn't really anything she could do about it either. I raised my eyebrows at her and dared her to call me a liar, but she backed down. "Your… brother, is in room 320," she said bitterly, and then walked away.

I walked to the elevator, and just as I was about to press the button, someone beat me to it. I looked up at the man standing next to me, and immediately looked away anxiously.

"Bella Swan," the man said confidently.

Shit!

I looked back at the doctor standing next to me, and smiled uncomfortably.

"I never forget a face," he said with a grin. "You are Bella Swan, right?" he asked, though his confidence didn't waver.

There was no point in denying it; he knew who I was, and I certainly knew who he was.

"Doctor El, what brings you here?" I asked, though I had a pretty good idea. Dr. Eleazar, or Dr. El., as I had called him, was Teddy's doctor in Phoenix. He used to make house calls, and he told me once that he had a photographic memory, so there was no way that I could lie my way out of it.

"Well, I was called in because I'm one of the few specialists in…." He paused when the elevator door opened. We both got in and he pressed the number three button, so up we went. "Lytchenstein Kolff Disease. They actually found a patient who's lived to adulthood," he said astonished. "Anyway… what brings you here? The last time I talked to the Masens, they said you were a doctor yourself and working overseas."

My palms began to sweat uncontrollably, and I was sure my face was beat red. In fact, I was just about ready to have a complete panic attack. "Uh… You're still in contact with the Masens?" I asked terrified.

"Of course, they're contributors to my hospital, and Liza sits on the board. But like I said, it's been like six or eight months since I talked to them last."

Well, that explained why he didn't know that I was supposed to be dead. I actually hadn't spoken to them in years, but I supposed my mother kept in contact, and even though I hadn't seen my mother in almost as long, I had been trying to keep in touch by letters and email before my untimely death.

"Oh… well, a lot's changed in the past eight months," I said while absently rubbing my protruding stomach.

"Oh, I see. Well congratulations. Are you working here now?" he asked as we began walking down the hall towards room 320.

"No… I'm here visiting a patient," I said uneasily. With each door we passed, my breathing elevated. 310, 312, 314…

"Ah, I see. You know, I actually have a position open at my hospital in Phoenix. I could use a good doctor with a passion for rare genetic diseases, such as yourself."

316, 318, and we both stopped in front of 320.

"Uh… thanks, I'll think about it," I said, having a hard time breathing adequately.

"Are you Ok?" he asked concerned as my panic became increasingly obvious.

"Yeah, I think I just need to sit down," I said. I walked over and sat on a chair outside the room, and put my head in my hands as I tried to calm down.

"Well, there's a nurse right there, perhaps you should get checked out."

I looked up at him, and a sudden wave of calm washed over me. "No, I'll be fine."

There was absolutely nothing I could do to stop the doctor from going in to see Edward, so that could only mean one of two things. Either he won't recognize him and proceed to give him the best care possible away from KRO, or he recognizes him and I had a whole hell of a lot of explaining to do - and he gets the best care possible away from KRO. It didn't really matter to me at that point. So much had happened, and I was so tired of running, that as long as Edward was in the best hands, nothing else mattered.

"Okay. I really need to go see this patient, so we'll talk more later," Dr. El said compassionately.

I smiled and reluctantly nodded, and then he disappeared inside Edward's room.

I sat there and bit my nails for just around ten minutes, before Dr. El came out of the room, and glared at me. He knew, and he knew that I was involved.

He took two steps closer to me, and the questions were written all over his face, but he voiced them anyway. "That's Teddy Masen," he said without a doubt. I felt like an idiot for not realizing it for so long when that doctor was able to figure it out right away, then again, Edward was nothing like Teddy before, and since the disease ravaged him again, it had become much more obvious.

Unable to think of anymore lies that could get us out of it, I nodded.

He shook his head in shocked disbelief. "Where has he been all this time?"

"You wouldn't believe me," I said quietly.

"His family thinks he's dead!" he exploded.

"I know, I can explain," I said, fully intending to tell him the long story, but I didn't get the chance because he wasn't ready to listen.

"I need to call his parents and notify the police," he said, and then walked quickly down the hall.

I stood there completely numb, and tried to think of something to fix the situation, but there was just nothing left. There was nowhere to run, and hiding had become impossible; I just felt… hollow.

I slowly walked into his room, and sat next to him as he continued to sleep. Without even thinking, the doctor in me started looking over his chart and vitals, just making sure he was ok for the time being. I didn't have anything else to do, so I just sat beside him and held his hand.

"I don't know what to do, Edward," I told him, though I was fairly certain that he couldn't hear me. "Everything just got so… crazy, and I don't know how to handle this. If you were… awake, you'd have four plans by now… You'd know exactly what to do, and what to do after that if something else went wrong. I don't even know how we got here. It's all been so confusing and I never felt so… lost. I really wish you would come to me in my dreams the way you always did before. I never told you that, did I? Every time I had a problem, I'd go to sleep, and I could always count on you being there to guide me through it. Of course, I didn't know you as 'Edward' then… but it was always you."

My tears were pooling over and falling on his face, so I sat back and just pressed his hand to my cheek as I cried into his knuckle. I needed him so much; I needed to feel his arms around me, and for him to look me deep in the eyes and tell me everything would be fine. He was always so sure that we were going to make it, and I just needed a fraction of his confidence, because at the moment, I was running on empty.

"Isabella Swan?" someone said from behind me, so I turned and looked and was horrified to see two uniformed officers standing there. "We need you to make a statement."

I looked back at Edward, and kissed his hand before gently putting it back down on the bed. I hated leaving him, especially since I wasn't sure how I was going to talk my way out of it. It could have very well been the last time I ever saw him, and I began hyperventilating as that realization hit me full force.

"Ma'am, you need to calm down," one of the officers said.

I shook my head. "I can't … breathe," I said while panting. I wasn't sure if it was a panic attack, or just what we had been waiting to happen as a result of my pregnancy, but either way, I became dizzy, and then everything went black…


	15. Strong Women

**Chapter 15 - Strong Women**

"Good morning," a voice said, which I didn't recognize. Everything was dark, but I realized that my eyes were closed, so I opened them and looked at the woman staring back at me, but I still didn't recognize her.

"What happened?" I asked groggily. "Where am I?"

"You're just fine. A little dehydrated and malnourished, but you and your baby are doing well. You're in the hospital because you fainted," she explained. "I'm Nurse Siobhan, and I'm here if there's anything you need."

"Uh, I need to see my… brother," I told her, despite the fact that I was fairly certain that they all figured out who Edward really was by then.

"Who?" she asked confused.

"Uh, I came in here earlier with a man… Anthony Dwyer. He was having seizures," I told her but she just looked puzzled.

"Um… I can check on that for you, but honey, you've been in here yourself for three days."

"What?" I practically yelled. "I've been sleeping for three days?" I asked incredulously.

"I think you were pretty exhausted. You woke up a few times and used the restroom. You don't remember that?" I shook my head no, so she sighed. "You also kept saying the name 'Edward' a lot, but I couldn't make out anything else you were mumbling."

"Listen, I really need to find that patient. Is there any way you can hurry and ask someone?" I pleaded.

"Sure hun, I'll see what I can do," she said and then walked out of the room.

I looked down at myself, and absolutely hated what I saw. I was wearing a patient gown and had an IV tube stuck in my arm. As a doctor, there was nothing that I hated more than feeling helpless as a patient; most doctors I knew felt the same way. I looked at the monitors, both the one connected to me, and the one connected to my baby, and I was relieved to see both our heartbeats were strong. So, I got up, pulled my IV stand with me as I crossed the room, and looked in the drawers there for any gauze. I found some easy enough, and a band aid, so I brought it back to the bed, and cringed as I pulled out my IV. I knew the baby was fine for the time being, so I couldn't stay in that room any longer, I needed to find Edward.

"Wow, where are you going?" Nurse Siobhan asked as she came back into the room.

"I need to find my brother," I told her frustrated. A man walked into the room after Siobhan, and it was obvious that he wasn't a doctor or random lost visitor. He was wearing a black suit, and staring at me like I was in deep shit.

"Miss Swan, I'm glad to see you feeling better," the man said. He pulled a chair over to the bed, and gestured for me to sit back down. So reluctantly, I did. I was happy that Nurse Siobhan stayed as well, because if this guy was one of Aro's goons, then I wanted a witness.

"Who are you?" I asked untrustingly.

"I'm Agent Uley, and I'm investigating the kidnapping of Edward Masen," he replied.

"Are you the same cop who was investigating KRO?" I asked him.

"I'm not sure what KRO is, I'm just here because Doctor Eleazar called me, and the Masen family wants this investigated."

"Oh," I said, unsure if I believed him or not.

"I also understand that you were declared deceased. Is that true?"

"Uh… I didn't declare it, so you'll have to talk to whoever did," I told him, not exactly sure what else to say.

"Look Ma'am, we're just trying to figure out what happened to Edward Masen and how he ended up with you at that hotel room. Now, I need you to look at this photo and tell me if you recognize this man," he said, and showed me a photo of Carlisle.

My eyes grew wide as I looked back at him.

"You recognize him?" he asked again, so I nodded. "Can you tell me his name?" I was nervous the whole time because I was well aware that the 'agent' could be working for KRO and testing me to see if I was going to rat them out, but on the off chance that he really was a cop, I decided to tell him the truth. If he was a goon who wanted to kill me, then he would either way.

"Carlisle Cullen," I told him, but the man seemed confused.

"This isn't Doctor Gary Colvin?" he asked curiously.

"That's not what I know him by," I told him.

"Well, when he approached the Masens about bringing their son to his facility, he went by the name, 'Doctor Gary Colvin'. We even ran a background check and found all kinds of great things he's done in the past. But you say his name is really Carlisle Cullen?"

"That's what he told me." I said, realizing how much Carlisle had actually lied. He told me that Aro was the one who took Edward from the Masens, but it was him all along.

"And you know him personally?"

"Yes."

"Was he the man who had Edward Masen?" the officer asked me.

"One of them. The KRO organization was running experiments on people with rare diseases," I explained vaguely. "Edward was one of them."

"And what was your part in all this?" he asked me.

"I went there thinking it was a normal job, but then I found out the truth so they locked me up and told my family I was dead," I said evenly.

He looked at me stunned for a minute, but since I didn't show any sign of lying, he continued to question me. "So, you escaped with Edward Masen?"

"Exactly."

"And how did you manage to do that?" he asked suspiciously. "You were found with him at a hotel room, without any of the equipment it would require to care for a man with his particular disabilities."

"Which is why we ended up here," I said getting frustrated. I absolutely hated being stuck there talking to that man, when all I wanted to do was find Edward and make sure he was ok.

"Bella?" someone said. I looked towards the door, and immediately started crying when I saw my mother standing there.

"Mom," I whispered and got up to hug her. I never thought I'd see her again, and it had been years since we were together last, so it was a very surreal moment.

"You're really here, and alive," she said while sobbing.

"I'm here, mom. I'm so sorry," I told her as we held each other. Agent Uley excused himself, and gave Mom and me some much needed time to talk and catch up.

"Have you talked to dad?" I asked after a few minutes.

"No. I've been trying to contact him since I first found out you were alive yesterday, but he's out of the country so everything's been a little difficult."

"He's out of the country?" I asked confused.

"When we were told that you died in Volterra, I went back to Forks for the memorial. Your dad was beside himself with grief, or at least I thought he was. But then he told me that he wasn't going to rest until he figured out exactly what happened."

"What did they say happened?" I asked her.

"The people from that place you were working at just said that you were involved in some sort of lab accident, and when your remains were never sent back, Charlie grew suspicious. He was sure they were hiding something, so he got help from The Bureau..."

"Bureau? Like the FBI? But dad is just a small town police chief," I said confused. Perhaps all his 'connections' talk he told me as a kid wasn't so fake after all.

"Your dad retired from the FBI when you were born, but he still had a lot of contacts who helped him get the international clearance he needed to go to Italy to try to figure out what happened to you."

"Wait… Dad was investigating KRO?... In Volterra?" I asked realizing that he must have been the 'new cop' who was hounding Aro. But then I wondered why he didn't see me when I was in jail for those few hours. Perhaps he was out doing other things and just missed me, or maybe he hadn't even gotten there yet.

"He just didn't trust them. Bella, how did you escape? And Teddy was alive all this time? Were they really performing hideous inhuman experiments on him?" she asked horrified and on the verge of tears again.

"Well, KRO is the only reason why Edward is still alive. But I needed to get him out of there… we needed to get out of there, so yeah, we escaped." As much as I hated KRO and the people who ran it, I had to be a little grateful for it. After all, Edward would have died a long time ago had it not existed and they ran those experiments on him.

"I just can't believe all this. I got a call from Liza and she said both you and Teddy were alive…" She shook her head and started crying again.

"Everything is going to be fine, mom," I said, even if I didn't really believe it. Carlisle and Aro must have figured out where we were by then, and it was only a matter of time until they came for us. I was happy to see my mother again, and she really did look so much better than the last time I saw her, but she was going to have to deal with our deaths all over again, because I knew KRO would eventually catch up to us. "I really need to see Edward," I said, and then moved around her to head for the door.

"Edward? Why do you keep calling Teddy 'Edward'?" Mom asked confused.

"Because… Look, I just need to see him," I said, dismissing her question. I really didn't have the time or emotional stability to go through the entire story right then.

"Well, they sent him back to Phoenix," Mom said, making me completely lose it.

"What? Oh my god! Mom, please tell me you're kidding?" I asked in a panic.

"Honey, it's his home. He was taken from his parents and they were lied to for years. They thought he was dead and I know how that feels. Of course they took him home where Doctor El can give him the proper care he needs."

"No, no, no, no," I said mostly to myself, and started looking around for my belongings. "Where are my damn clothes?" I shouted out of frustration.

"Bella, calm down," Mom hushed me, but I wouldn't stop.

"I need to get to him. How long has it been since they took him? What did he say when they were moving him?" I asked in a rush.

"What did he say? Bella, you know Teddy can't talk," she said confused, but then she didn't wait for me to answer her; she just smiled and changed the direction she was going in. "You know, I saw him right before they took him, and I swear he remembers me. I could just see it in his eyes."

"He didn't try to say anything?" I asked realizing that his disease must have taken over entirely by then.

"Of course not. But he looked good… Much better than I expected when I heard he was alive."

"Mom, I need to get to him in Phoenix. Please tell me that you have money that I could borrow for a plane ticket?"

She shook her head. "I'm sorry honey; I used my entire bank account to fly here. I've been living in Nevada and working as a waitress, but now that you're back, I figured we could stay together for awhile. I can't believe you're having a baby. I hope it's a girl so we can be three generations of strong women."

I shook my head at her incredulously. She hadn't been in my life since I was a teenager, but she suddenly wanted to play house and call herself a 'strong woman'. She knew absolutely nothing about doing something that really needed to be done. Even if something was difficult or painful, even if it seemed impossible, a strong person does it anyway; but not her, she ran from her problems.

I was far too scared of a person to consider myself 'strong', but if I was going to have a daughter, then having my mom as her 'strong woman' role model, was not something I wanted. I understood that she was messed up after we lost Teddy, she loved him like a son and didn't know how to move past it, but I was her daughter and still right in front of her, and she walked away. I never held any grudges in the past, but her comment just rubbed me the wrong way.

Nurse Siobhan walked past my room, and I yelled at her to stop, so she came in.

"I need my clothes. I have to leave, now!" I told her sternly.

"You haven't been discharged yet."

"I don't care! I need to leave, so if you can't bring me my clothes, I'll find someone who can."

"Let me see what I can do," she said again, and walked briskly back down the hall.

"Bella, if you need to see Teddy, then we can drive to Phoenix," Mom offered. "Its only just over 2,400 miles." I was irritated with her in that moment, but if she had a way to get me to Edward, then I was definitely going to take it.

"Do you have a car… that runs?" I asked her.

"Of course… in Nevada. However I may not have enough money to buy two plane tickets, but I can afford a rental and gas money."

"Ok, go rent a car and meet me out front."

I waited for my clothes for another twenty minutes, and decided that if Siobhan didn't bring them in the next five, I'd leave in nothing but my gown and worry about clothes later. Thankfully, two minutes after that, she came with my clothes and discharge papers. I didn't have any health insurance which I could give, so I just gave them my dad's address and told them to bill me. I felt bad about that, but I really didn't have any other choice.

Officer Uley told me I couldn't leave because I had a bunch of paper work I needed to fill out as a result of me being technically alive again, but when he went to go grab something, I took off. I didn't have time to do paperwork and give an official statement, because I needed to get to Edward before his time ran out.

Mom and I took off towards Phoenix, and if we took turns driving, I was sure we could get there in just a couple days. I didn't want to stop in any hotels, or even take a break by stopping to eat. I just needed to get there. So I drove for ten hours, only stopping for bathroom trips and to get gas, and then Mom took over and drove for another four hours. I felt like we were getting so close, and I just wanted to get to him, but both of us were exhausted so reluctantly we had to stop in another cheap hotel for the night. I was really beginning to hate hotels.

We didn't speak much along the way. Mom tried asking me about my baby and its father, but she was still reeling from the fact that Teddy was alive all along, that I knew explaining it to her then was beyond anything she could handle. She wanted to know other things about my life as well, but without a computer screen and a few thousand miles in between us, it was really awkward.

We left at the crack of dawn the next morning, and by the time the sun set again, we were driving into Phoenix. We went straight to the hospital that Mom said they took Edward to, but we couldn't get in to see him because it was past visiting hours and we weren't legal family. I couldn't remember a time when I felt so anxious and frustrated. Edward was inside the building right in front of me, and I couldn't get in to see him.

We drove to the closest motel, and I knew we'd be staying there for awhile, so I needed to come up with another way to get money.

"I thought your Grandma Swan left you an inheritance?" Mom asked me.

"She did, most of which covered what dad couldn't afford for my medical school, and what's left is in the bank which I can't access because I have absolutely no ID whatsoever. Officer Uley said it would be awhile before I'm declared legally living again, and that's after the paperwork is filed, which I never did," I explained.

"Well, as soon as they get a hold of your father, I'm sure he'll do whatever it takes to get you back on track."

And then an uneasy sinking feeling washed over me. "Mom, what if something happened to dad? I mean, it can't be normal for him to be unreachable, right? What if KRO got a hold of him… or worse," I said with a lump in my throat.

I was already stressed with Edward, our baby, and the fact that Carlisle was probably close by, but on top of all that, I was worried about my father too. Aro wouldn't hesitate to kill someone who got in his way; he did it before, and I knew he wouldn't have a problem doing it again. I only prayed that my father was cunning enough to evade him.

As soon as it was visiting hours again, we were back at the hospital, but we were met with yet another road block.

"I'm sorry. As a result of the police investigation, Edward Masen isn't permitted to have any non-family visitors," the head nurse said heartlessly.

I held my hands up and clinched my fist, and struggled with myself to not lash out and attack the innocent woman. So I took a deep breath, and as calmly as possible, I threatened her. "If you don't let me see him, then I will ring your scrawny LITTLE NECK!" I yelled at the end. So, it wasn't exactly calm, but it was as calm as I was capable of in that moment.

"Is there a problem here?" a security guard asked. I didn't even notice the three guards standing outside Edward's room, but I was extremely grateful for them. At least they were taking the KRO threat seriously.

"I... I just need to see him. Please. You can follow me in if you need to, I just need to know he's ok," I said slowly.

"Name?" he asked.

"Isabella Swan," I said stiffly. I couldn't relax until I saw him, so every single muscle of my being was tense with anticipation.

"I need to check for clearance," he said, and then went into Edward's room. Less than a minute later, Liza Masen came out with tears in her eyes, and her arms outstretched towards me.

"Bella!" she cried, and wrapped me in her arms. "Thank god for you. I'm so glad you're safe." She pulled back and looked into my face lovingly. "Thank you for bringing our baby home to us. We wanted to stay in New York until you were well, but Dr. El said we needed to get Teddy back because he wasn't sure how much time he has left," Liza said, and her words broke at the end.

"Can I see him?" I asked short of breath.

"I don't know how you did it, but you brought him back to us. Of course you can see him."

I closed my eyes to try to calm myself before I completely broke down. I felt like I had been fighting for so long to see him and it was finally paying off.

I had no idea what state he'd be in at that point, but I definitely wasn't expecting what I saw when I went into the room. He wasn't the Edward I knew, and yet, he was. He was sitting in a full body support wheelchair with his head strapped to the headrest because he didn't have the muscle strength in his neck to hold it up. He had breathing tubes down his throat and nose, and the muscles in his face deteriorated to the point where he wasn't even recognizable.

"We were just about to take him out to the garden for some fresh air," Liza said, explaining why he was in the wheelchair instead of the bed.

I nodded, but couldn't speak. I spent so much time with the Cullens that I got used to the drastic changes in awareness and even in physical appearance, but seeing Edward in that state was different. I couldn't properly put it into words, because the depth of my pain was beyond comprehension, and the worst part was not knowing what was going through his mind.

His eyes wheeled unseeingly, but I walked over to him anyway, and tried to get in his line of sight. I wanted him to know I was there, just in case he was aware enough to worry about what happened to me. But he didn't respond, and when his eyes glazed over me, they just continued on as if I was no one of importance.

I wanted to get in his face and make him remember me, I ached to grab his hand and hold it against my lips, but everyone was watching and I just felt so lost. Without touching him or saying a word, I took a step back and let his father by so he could push him out of the room.

"I'll catch up," I heard Liza whisper to her husband, and then he disappeared around the corner. "Bella, are you okay?" she asked me.

"Huh? Yeah, great," I lied unconvincingly.

"I know this must all be overwhelming for you; I can't imagine what escaping a place like that was like. But we have some good news," she said with a halfhearted smile. "We're taking Teddy back home. Doctor El is going to do all his care from our place, just like before."

I shook my head, trying to knock myself out of my stupor. "But what about KRO? They'll come after him. He needs protection," I told her. Actually, I was really surprised that no one from KRO showed up yet. Perhaps they did however; perhaps there just wasn't anything they could do without drawing too much attention to themselves.

"Well, since we saw you last, Tony's business consultant firm has really taken off, so we've made quite a bit of money. We can afford round the clock bodyguards, plus the local police are well aware of our situation."

"Um… that's good," I said to her. I thought back to before, when they were constantly struggling to cover the cost of Teddy's needs, and how his dad, Tony Masen, worked long hours just to make it through each month, so I was happy it all paid off for them.

"I should be going out there," Liza said after an awkward moment of silence. "I've missed so much time, and I feel like it's already almost over. We were so stupid to trust that horrible doctor when he told us he could possibly help him. I can't imagine how terrified he was being poked and prodded for so many years by total strangers."

"He's still alive," I said quietly, trying to make her feel fractionally better.

She nodded and a tear rolled down her cheek.

After awhile, Mom and I went back to the motel, and I applied for a job at the corner diner. I didn't know how long I'd be able to work for, but I needed to do something. But of course, without an ID to prove my identity, they wouldn't hire me.

Mom and I spent the next couple of days going back and forth to the hospital, but when they moved Edward to the Masen's house, it became too far for us to walk to everyday, and we couldn't afford the bus, so we needed to come up with a new solution.

"So, I talked to Liza, and she offered to let us move back in with them," Mom said a few days later.

"You're going to be Edward's nurse again?" I asked, feeling mixed emotions from that awkward scenario. He wasn't a child that she could easily bathe and feed anymore; he was a man, and despite everything else, he was mine, and it just didn't feel right having my mother taking care of him. Then again, my place was with Edward, so if given the chance to live under the same roof with him again, I wasn't about to pass it up no matter the circumstance.

"Well… I could help take shifts, but I was thinking that since you're a doctor and you know his disease way better than I ever did, you could do most of it. Liza is working now, and she wants to be the one pressing charges against KRO when they finally move in and make arrests, so she's going to be super busy here soon. That, and she's still so traumatized from losing Teddy once before that she's having a hard time trusting anyone around him that she doesn't know. So I told her that I'd be their housekeeper and cook, and you'd be his nurse. That way she's secure with his care, and we get to be with him too and have a place to stay. Its a win-win for all of us."

"Uh... you don't know how to cook," I said, slightly amused.

"Oh, I took a course when I was working in Vegas. I'm good sweetie, I swear," she assured me, making me feel a little better about the situation.

So, Mom and I moved back in with the Masen's. It was like I was thirteen all over again; I even got my old room back. It was extremely surreal being in Teddy's house since I had dreamed about him for so long after he 'died'. It felt like living in a déjà vu or a parallel dimension... Except I wasn't in a different dimension, and nothing would ever really be the same again.

Because I was pregnant and not the most muscular of individuals, the Masen's had also hired a male day nurse named Benjamin, who doubled as a security guard and handled much of Edward's physical needs. Not that I would have minded taking care of him completely on my own, but even more than the heavy lifting, I knew Edward would have absolutely hated me being the one to do the more basic stuff like bathing him and cleaning his catheters, so I wanted to give him that respect.

I took care of his daily medical needs in-between visits from Dr. El. I fed him through his feeding tube, kept his ventilators clean and in their proper place, and made sure he stayed as healthy as possible. I was with him every waking hour of every day, but there was a definite wall of disconnect there, and I didn't know how to break through it.

On top of Edward's inability to function, I hadn't felt my baby move since we began living with the Masens, and I was too terrified of what that meant to do anything about it. I hadn't seen an OBGYN, and even though I knew I should, I just didn't want to face any of it. Doing a DNA test wasn't exactly a standard procedure for most pregnancies, so when I fainted in the hospital they didn't ask me questions about the disease, but I was sure if I went to a prenatal visit, those types of questions would definitely come up.

Even worse than my lack of prenatal care was the fact that I had yet to tell the Masens the truth about my relationship with Edward. The words had been stuck in my throat since the first day we moved into their home, but for the life of me, I couldn't force them out. It wasn't fair to them. They deserved to know the truth. They deserved to know that their son had a full life outside the prison of his own body, and they were going to be grandparents. But I suppose with the baby's future being so uncertain, I just didn't want to give them one more heartache…Or maybe that was a complete copout and I was nothing more than a coward. Either way, I kept the truth so concealed within myself that at times I didn't even readily remember it, and I would go days at a time and not think about my baby or its father even once. I was just blankly going through the motions of my current daily life, and I was at the point where I could no longer see the bigger picture anymore.

I would sit with Edward for hours when his parents were away, and just stare off into space. We both weren't really there; we were just two hollow shells of what we once were, and I had no idea how to get back to where we were before.

"Bella, I think you need help," Mom said to me one day.

"No, I got it," I said as I was washing Edward's feeding tube.

"No, I mean, I think you're depressed. Maybe Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, or something."

"I'm fine, mom," I said mechanically.

"Bella… I know I already asked you and you didn't want to talk to me about it, but what about the baby's father? Does he even know you're pregnant… Do you even know who the father is?" she asked carefully.

"Of course I know who he is," I said insulted. "But I'm not sure if he knows or not… I'm not sure of anything anymore."

"Ok…Well, I need to go into the city for a few hours to help Liza with her project, and Benjamin has the afternoon off... Are you ok being alone with Teddy for a little while?"

"I won't let anything happen to him," I said absently.

"Bella… are you sure?" she asked concerned.

I glared at her, but still didn't really focus. She got the hint however, so she kissed my forehead and then Edward's, before grabbing her purse and walking out the front door.

I didn't move for a good two hours, but then something woke me up and definitely got my attention. The baby kicked abruptly… and hard. Before they were just little flutters and soft nudges, but this was definitely a hard, purpose-filled kick. Not only did it bring me back to the living, but it also made me refocus and think clearly for the first time in weeks.

I sat next to where Edward was sleeping, and gently lifted his hand and placed it on my stomach. Since we had been there, that was really the first time that I looked at him as the father of my baby again, but that's exactly who he was, and I knew it was time to finally tell his family the truth. So I planned to sit them down and tell them everything when they all got home that evening. Even if they didn't believe me, I had to try, they all deserved that.

Edward's eyes opened as a result of me moving him, but he didn't look at me, he just stared up at the ceiling.

"Edward…" I said softly. Regardless of his awareness level, I needed to talk to him, so I did. "I've been… detached, and I don't know why. Maybe my mom is right, maybe I have been depressed. Maybe I've just been waiting for you to be taken from me again, so I've distanced myself so it would hurt less. Carlisle kept telling me that the baby probably wouldn't survive, so I haven't really allowed myself to bond with it, and Doctor El keeps saying that it's only a matter of time before you pass, so…" I had to wipe the tears from my face.

And then, very deliberately, he turned his head and stared at me.

"Edward?" I whispered. His facial expression didn't change… but he definitely blinked. "Edward, can you understand me?" I asked breathlessly. Again, he blinked. I started crying more, but I tried to stop because he was watching me and a look of desperation was strong in his eyes.

I had been so stupid to think he couldn't understand what was going on. He told me so many things that had happened when we were younger, that there was no way he could have known if he was unable to comprehend anything around him. He had told me before that he didn't understand everything and it was like living in a haze or there was a block in his brain, but he definitely knew who I was. It became obvious in that moment, that every second he was fighting within himself to think about me and our baby. He understood enough, and that was enough for me.

"I'm so sorry," I said softly. "I'm here with you now, and even if we're never more than this, I swear, I'll never give up on you again." I rested my head next to his, and turned him so he was looking at me again. I stared in his eyes for an endless moment, and in that fraction of time, it was just us, just like we were before. The love which was always there was stronger than ever, and like before, we had an entire conversation without a word passing between us.

I brought my hand to his face, and repositioned his hand back on my stomach. It had been an extremely emotional ride since we first left Volterra, but through the ups and downs, we were still together, and I was going to make sure it stayed that way.

I kept caressing his face, and I began telling him everything that had happened since he first went to the hospital. I told him about the uncomfortable car trip with Mom, and how worried I was about my dad who still hadn't made contact. I even told him how odd it was that no one from KRO seemed to be after us. He blinked periodically through my longwinded one sided conversation, but he never lost his focus. He was listening to me, and that was more than I could have ever hoped for.

Without remembering how I got there, I found myself completely lying on the bed next to him, and my body was pressed against his with our faces inches apart. It wasn't a conscious decision, but we were like magnets and whenever possible, we were going to be that close. Being together was a basic necessity of life.

When the baby moved again, Edward must have felt it, because he blinked and then his hand flinched on my stomach.

"Shouldn't I be sick by now?" I asked him. "I mean, besides the stress and fainting from not taking proper care of myself, I haven't felt the things you said I would." The baby moved again, and again, his hand twitched. "Our baby knows its daddy is here," I said softly.

For the first time, in what seemed like a very long time, my heart felt calm from having him that close, and it relaxed my nerves and allowed me to feel safe, even if it was only for a few minutes. I imagined that we were back in my apartment in Volterra, and it was any other night when we'd fall asleep in each other's arms. And like before, somehow his hand found its way to my breast. I didn't move it there, and I didn't notice him move either; I was sure it was just an innocent coincidence, but it did make me giggle lightly. He always did have to have his hands on my boobs whenever we slept together.

"What the hell are you doing?" Liza shrieked abruptly from the doorway of the room, making me jump. She must have just gotten home, and didn't appreciate me lying down on the 'job'.

"Uh…" I said, not wanting to upset her so I got off the bed. "Sorry, I was just - "

"You what? I come in here and find you molesting my son?" she said irately, taking me aback. My mom was behind her, and she appeared to be just as upset.

"What? No," I said horrified as I realized what it must have looked like. "Edward and I…"

"You were forcing a helpless boy to what?… Fondle you. What the hell kind of monster are you? Is this what you were doing with him in that hotel room? Is that the real reason why you took him and ran from the company?" Liza was so upset that she was shaking, but she wouldn't give me a chance to explain. "I heard of disturbed individuals sexually abusing disabled people, but I never thought you'd be one of them. Your baby's father abandoned you, so you take advantage of my child?"

"Ok, first, he is not a child, and second, my baby's father didn't abandon me, because he's right here!" I shouted and pointed at Edward. That was definitely not the way I wanted it to come out, but I was frustrated that she wasn't letting me speak and I just exploded.

"Excuse me?" she said incredulously.

"Bella," Mom said ashamed.

"Edward, is my baby's father, and I never molested him, or sexually abused him in any way. We were a couple, and before he got sick, we were happy…. Well, as happy as we could be as prisoners of KRO."

"You need help. You are delusional," Liza said disgusted. "Teddy can't be a couple with anyone. Look at him!"

"I understand that it's hard to believe, but he was… better. He could function, and talk, and walk. He was so normal, that I didn't even know who he really was until after we had already been together. I even found out I was pregnant before I learned the truth. KRO's experiments worked… at least to a degree. He needed medication, but he was fully functioning. We love each other, and as unbelievable as it seems, we made this baby together," I said with conviction, hoping they'd believe me…. but of course they didn't.

"If what you're saying is true, then your baby would have the disease, and you would be a whole hell of a lot sicker than you are. I know, I barely lived through that type of pregnancy. You are seriously deranged… and you need help. Now, get the hell out of my house, before I call the police! You will never come near my son again," Liza said emotionally.

I shook my head. "I can't leave him. I don't know why I'm not sick, but my baby does have the disease. I had a genetic test done, as well as a paternity test, and they were both conclusive. This is your grandchild, and it does have Lytchenstein Kolff Disease. I wish it didn't, but that's a fact, and we all have to live with it. I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth sooner, but Edward wouldn't want me to leave him right now, or ever, and I won't." I insisted.

"I'm calling the police," she said resigned.

Surprisingly, I wasn't upset with her fierce stubbornness, not really anyway; she was a mother who had too many people mess with her child and take advantage. In fact, I admired Liza Masen even more for the fight she was putting up. My mom would have never tried so hard to protect me; some mothers just didn't have it in them. Liza was definitely a 'strong woman', and I'd never hate her because of it. My story was unfathomable, and I knew that, I just wished I could prove it.

"Please, we can do another DNA test if you want. Just don't make me leave him," I said desperately.

"Fine, let's go get the test done now," she said still shaking.

"No. I meant after the baby is born. I'm too far along now and there are risks to doing one at this point. Liza, you know me. You know how much I loved him before he was taken. I'd never hurt him like that. Never. Please, just listen to me. I'm telling you the truth."

She stared at me for a minute, and then very calmly, she picked up the phone.

"I'm calling the police, and you can talk to them about everything. At the very least, I'm getting a restraining order. Leave my house now, before you're arrested."

I started breathing heavily, and I looked at Edward, praying for some kind of help. He was looking back at me, and even though he was expressionless, his eyes spoke volumes. He was always extremely protective of me, but Liza wasn't going to listen and being in jail again was not an option. So he blinked again, and I knew he was telling me to leave; he didn't want me to go, but he didn't want me arrested more.

"I'm so sorry," I said quietly, and even though I was certain Liza thought I was talking to her, I was really saying it to him.

But as I walked out of the house, I had a new determination. Edward wasn't just a shell, he was in there, and he was holding on for dear life. He had the will to live, and the rest was up to me. I was done wallowing in my own pain, it was time to figure out a way to save my family….


	16. Music

**Chapter 16 - Music**

Once again, I was homeless and without any money, and once again, Edward was taken from me…

 _God, I wish I knew where my dad was_. If anyone could have believed my crazy truth, it was him. He was the only person who would know without a doubt that I'd never lie about something so important. And if for some reason he couldn't believe me, he would have still supported me and tried to help in some way, which was more than I could say about my mother. She just stood there and watched me leave the Masen house entirely on my own, with nowhere in the world to go. It was just another hurtful blow in the tragic saga of our mother - daughter relationship… not that I was at all surprised.

I started walking aimlessly, but for the first time in a long time, I had the will to continue. Edward was hanging on by a thread, just waiting for me to get my act together and figure everything out, and his faith in me alone was all the motivation I needed to keep fighting.

Just as I was about to round the block onto the main street, I saw Dr. El driving towards the Masen's house. We locked eyes as he passed, and then his car made a U-Turn and came back around before stopping besides me.

"Bella, is everything alright?" he asked as he got out of his car.

"Uh… no, Liza kicked me out," I told him honestly.

"Why would she put a pregnant woman out on the street?" he asked confused. So I told him. Everything.

He stood there stunned while I unloaded the entire story on him, right from the first time I saw Edward at KRO. He was absolutely flabbergasted, but even as he stared at me blankly, for whatever reason, I knew he was at least open to the possibility of believing me. He was a man of science and medicine, and I explained the enzymes and compounds in a way that a man like him could understand.

He shook his head after a few minutes; it wasn't in a way of denial, it was more like he was trying to think of what to say.

"And you're sure that Teddy is your baby's father?" he asked with a mix of skepticism and wonderment.

"I wasn't with anyone else, and on the off chance that I was drugged by someone there, they ran a DNA test."

"And… the fetus tested positive for Lytchenstein Kolff Disease?"

"Yes."

"But you're not sick?" he asked contemplatively.

"No," I said, feeling like I was repeating myself; although, I'd tell him my story a million times if there was even a twinge of belief from him. "Look, if you can help me get a hold of a man named Garrett Turner, he'll attest to everything I'm saying. He was one of Edward's closest friends, and hopefully, he still has the Cullens with him."

"Garrett Turner? As in the man who owns the cord blood banking facility in Florida?" Dr. El asked. I shouldn't have been surprised that he heard of him, our industry was actually quite small on the grand scale of things, and there were only a handful of cord blood banks in the country.

"Yes!" I nearly shouted as my heart raced with hope. Charlie wasn't the only one able to believe the unbelievable. Dr. El was on the verge. I could just feel it.

He sighed. "Well, if Teddy really was friends with Garrett, then we'll definitely get to the bottom of this. I need to go check on him at the Masen's, but come sit in my car, and when I'm finished we'll go back to my office and make a few phone calls."

"Thank you," I said, sincerely relieved. Finally I wasn't completely alone in the fight to save my family.

After he was finished checking on Edward, he came back to the car and started driving towards the hospital. "I told him," he said quietly.

"You told who what?" I asked confused.

"I told Teddy that I was going to do whatever I could to help you. I don't know if he understood me for sure, but when I looked him in the eye, I swear, there was a sense of calm there that I haven't seen since he was a child."

"Thank you," I said again. "You have no idea what that means to us."

When we got to the hospital, Dr. El asked if we could do an ultrasound. He wasn't an OBGYN, so I didn't understand the point, but I reluctantly agreed regardless. He was the only person in the world who had even the slightest chance of helping me, so I'd be willing to do just about anything he asked… as long as it wasn't immoral and unethical the way KRO was, of course.

As I leaned back in the examination chair, my heart nearly beat out of my chest. I had avoided care for my baby for too long, and I was scared of what he'd find. I was told the baby wouldn't survive for so long that I had grown numb to it. Actually seeing the little one moving inside me was definitely going to be an emotional sight that I wasn't sure I was prepared to face. But like I told Edward before I was forced away from him, I was done just existing. It was time to be active in my own life again, and that included being the mother my baby needed. I was not my mom, and I refused to be a shadow of a person the way she was for a moment longer.

The lights went down and the monitor on the screen besides me illuminated the room, however because it was a mobile ultrasound machine, it only had one screen and it was currently facing away from me.

"I'm just going to squirt some warm gel on your stomach," Dr. El informed me.

"You know, I've been working in genetics for a while now, and I've never given anyone an ultrasound," I semi-joked, trying to break through the thick discomfort I was feeling.

He chuckled lightly, but it was clearly just a way to calm my nerves because I certainly wasn't really funny. "No, I wouldn't expect you to have performed ultrasounds as a geneticist. Its not a common thing in my practice either, but in this case…" He let his words trail off as he turned on the monitor's sound, and the strong steady thumping of my baby's heart filled the room. "Well, hello there," he said unexpectedly as he looked at something on the screen.

"What? What's wrong?" I asked anxiously.

He didn't answer me right away, he just continued to stare at the monitor for another minute, but it almost looked like he was counting something.

"Dr. El?" I questioned impatiently.

"Huh," he said to himself, seemingly lost in contemplation.

"What is it?" I nearly shouted.

"Well," he huffed. "In no way am I saying that I don't believe your story, but this baby shows absolutely no signs of the disease."

I scrunched my brows. "I didn't know Lytchenstein Kolff Disease could be detected on an ultrasound," I said confused, unsure what else to think about what he just said.

"Well it can't be diagnosed with certainty this way, but there are definite traits that most Lytchenstein Kolff fetus's display at this level of development."

"Like what?"

"Well, most of these fetuses have lower heartrates and measure much smaller than average. Their bones are also less dense and appear more translucent on these scans. Your baby, on the other hand, has a very strong heartrate, and its size and bone density are all in the normal range… But most importantly…" He clicked the ball on his computer keyboard, and then rolled it around for a moment before turning the screen towards me. "See this?" he questioned as he circled a particular area.

"Um…" I had no idea what I was looking at. The image was in black and white and looked nothing like a baby, except it was definitely moving steadily.

"This, Bella, is a close up of your baby's umbilical cord. See the movement here? Now, I'm no expert on deciphering ultrasounds, and I usually bring in a technician to do these for me, but it appears to me that the blood flow is very strong. There's no sign of any of the complications that we've seen manifest with this disease. This fetus isn't leeching off any of your other organs because the umbilical cord seems to be normal and doing it's job perfectly."

"But how can that be?" I questioned, too afraid to actually be grateful.

"Well, again, I'm not denying your story about Teddy being the baby's father, but from looking at everything here, I'd say this is a normal, healthy fetus."

I shook my head in denial. "Carlisle ran the DNA test. He said the baby had the disease. How could the test have been wrong?"

"With all due respect, didn't you say that Carlisle was untrustworthy? You also told me he said Teddy was sterile. Something is definitely off. I think its safe to say nothing you were told was accurate."

I nodded. "Except for the fact that Edward does has Lytchenstein Kolff Disease… And since he has the disease, then why doesn't our baby?" I questioned. I was on the verge of panicking again. What if the paternity test wasn't actually conclusive? What if Carlisle lied about that too and I really was assaulted without my knowledge? I suppose claiming the baby was Edward's would have been a perfect way to continue to control him. What if…

"Ok, let's take a step back here," Dr. El said, clearly sensing my distress. "There's still so much we don't know about this rare disease. Perhaps your baby's symptoms will manifest in different ways. Before we jump to any conclusions, why don't you let me run a few other tests?"

I took a deep, stabilizing breath, and then nodded again. "Ok," I said no louder than a whisper. I didn't know what to think about any of it, but Dr. El was right. Getting worked up was pointless until we had some real answers.

So without even getting a chance to see a full image of my baby, Dr. El turned off the machine and flipped on the lights. A part of me wanted to ask for a better look at the little person growing inside me, but once again I was scared. Did I even want to know the truth about the baby at that point? It was almost more than I could handle.

"So, with your permission, I'd like to take some blood from you, and also a hair and saliva sample," Dr. El said as he helped me up from the chair.

Without questioning him further, I simply agreed and followed him out of the room to wherever we needed to go for the next tests. For whatever reason, the baby was doing remarkably well, and I could do nothing but be grateful. I didn't have the energy for any more worries at the moment. I needed to stay focused on saving Edward.

After the tests were done, I followed Dr. El back to his office and waited at his desk as he called the number he had for Garrett's company, but the people who answered the phone said he hadn't been in for weeks, and they didn't know when to expect him back or how we could get ahold of him. - The hits just kept coming, but I would continue to persevere because I simply had no other choice.

That night Dr. El was kind enough to let me sleep in his office; he had a couch in there that was extremely uncomfortable, but it was better than being on the streets so I was appreciative. The next morning, Dr. El saved me again by telling the cafeteria staff to give me anything I wanted. The food was horrible, nothing like the gourmet offerings at KRO, but it was something solid in my stomach so I'd take it.

I spent the rest of that day in the small library next to the hospital gift shop. They had many books on genetic diseases there, but none that I hadn't already studied while in medical school, so I turned my search to the internet, which was one luxury KRO never gave us access to. I looked up anything and everything to do with the disease, and I also researched similar diseases, just trying to see if there was anything that could possibly help. I spent so long sitting there that eventually my eyes crossed and I fell asleep right there at the computer, only waking when the librarian wanted to close for the afternoon.

I had nothing else to do, and nowhere else to go, so I went outside and just sat in the garden area. The birds were chirping, and the bees were buzzing, and I wished Edward was there to enjoy the warmth of the sun with me like we had done so many times together on the Cullen roof garden. Even if he was never cured, I still wished I could be sitting besides him in that moment, just watching the light dance in his eyes. If I did nothing else in my life, I prayed I'd find a way to, at the very least, convince Liza to let me see him again. I needed just one more of those perfect serene moments that I had only ever experienced in his presence, and I only hoped time didn't run out before I got that moment…

"There you are," Dr. El said as he exited the building to where I was. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

"Is something wrong?" I questioned concerned. "Is Edward…?" I couldn't even finish speaking; the thought of something happening to him was unbearable.

"No, no, nothing like that. I just wanted to make sure you knew you could sleep in my office as long as you need. I'd offer you a place to stay at my house, but my sister's family is living there currently with me, so its pretty full."

"Oh, Dr. El, that's really kind of you, but I wouldn't want to impose," I told him regretfully.

He came and sat next to me on the bench I was on, and then looked up at the trees for a few moments, before turning towards me.

"So… tell me about him," he asked unexpectedly.

"Edward?" He nodded, so I shrugged. "I already told you. He was fully functioning. I didn't even know there was anything wrong with him…"

"No, tell me about _him_. About who he was as a person," he clarified.

I smiled. "I thought doctors weren't supposed to get to know their patients on a personal level."

"Oh, I always try to get to know all my patients. Unless you know them, you can never truly understand what you're fighting for. How can anyone be helped if they're nothing more than a case or a disease? You treat the person, not the illness. Only then can you ever make someone better."

I nodded. "I can see that," I said, thinking about the Cullen's. Perhaps the only reason Edward was able to help them at all was because he loved them so much and refused to fail. "But doesn't it just make the losses that much more difficult?" I then asked, knowing Edward had struggled with that.

"It can. But what's certain is that every victory will be that much more rewarding if you are emotionally invested, and that makes it all worth it."

"I guess that's true."

"So please, tell me about Teddy," El urged.

I took a deep breath as all my memories of the man I loved came rushing back in like an opened damn. "Teddy… was a boy stuck in his own body. He would get angry when people would force him to watch Barney for hours on end, but he had no way to ask for the channel to be turned. That, alone, would be torture for anyone." I bit my bottom lip as I thought more about him. "He loved crickets, and birds chirping… and rainbows. He really loved those. The warm breeze on his face, the leaves falling from the sky. He lived for the little things. He'd get frustrated with his limitations at times, but he was happy. He was happy most of the time, and he always made me happy, and he calmed my nerves in a way no one else ever could…"

"You call him Edward, don't you?" Dr. El asked, only then realizing his mistake.

I nodded. "He preferred that. Teddy was the name of his case at KRO, and he didn't want to just be a case anymore."

"OK, I'll call him Edward for now on," Dr. El assured me.

"I'm sure he'd appreciate that, but I wasn't just telling you who he was before KRO because you called him Teddy, I was telling you about him before KRO because that was the beginning of his story. Edward isn't one dimensional. He's Teddy and he's Edward. Who he became as a man was built on by the foundation of who he was as a child. It took me a while to realize that, but Edward never lost that sense of wonder and innocent joy I often saw in Teddy. He sometimes did a good job of hiding it, but it was always there… I just needed to look hard enough."

"Is it still there now?" El questioned softly.

I raised my shoulders, then I had to wipe a rogue tear from dripping down my face. "I wish I knew. When I was with him at the Masens, I wasn't really with him. I was withdrawn, and stupid… so stupid. I wasted so much time with him, and now I may never get to see him again."

"We cant think like that. We must stay positive," Dr. El reminded me.

"I know, you're right," I said, forcing myself to refocus on the good times. "Edward was smart, so incredibly smart, and adventurous. He was always up for any kind of activity, no matter how extreme or terrifying. He was…" I paused when I realized I was referring to him in the past tense. "Edward _is_ the most loving and compassionate human being I've ever encountered. And he's stubborn. So incredibly stubborn. I know he's still alive right now because he simply refuses to give up." I laughed once, and wiped my tears again. "I'm so grateful that he's so stubborn."

"He definitely has a very strong will to live," El agreed. "I noticed that the first time I examined him again."

"He wanted me to let him die when we were in that hotel room… But it was only because he thought KRO would catch us and I could run faster without him, especially since we thought the baby would make me sick at any moment." I shook my head at the thought. "He's so incredibly selfless."

"And I see his choice in a mate reflects those qualities as well," El said with a smile. "I think you might just be one of the most selfless and stubborn people I have ever met."

I scrunched my face. "No, I just do what I have to do save my family."

"Don't be so defensive. It's a compliment. It's the fiercely stubborn people who survive in this world. Don't ever waver from doing what you believe in."

We were both quiet for a minute, but my memories of Edward kept replaying in my mind. "I really miss the sound of his voice," I told El quietly. "When he would speak, it was like… music… Do you remember the way Liza would play the piano and it would carry through the entire house?"

El nodded. "She'd play when I came to do my checks. It always seemed to calm him."

"Yeah, it would. It would calm everyone. That feeling that would wash over the house… that was Edward… _Is_ Edward. Just being in his presence gives me that feeling. He could speak so gently that the cadence of his words were like listening to a lullaby or a sweet symphony. But he could be fierce too. Like the base on the stereo turned up too far. He was so strong and confident, but still somehow tender at the same time. And he was so beautiful," I said wistfully. "I never knew someone could be that beautiful. The first time I saw him at KRO, he just took my breath away. Everything about him was just... perfect… _Is_ perfect. He's still beautiful and perfect. Nothing could ever change that."

"Well, its certainly clear to me that you love him very much."

"I do. More than I could ever properly put into words." I took another deep breath. "Dr. El, do you believe in miracles?" I asked him.

"Yes. Very much so. I was raised Catholic. I had a very strong faith growing up. Of course, in becoming a doctor we tend to lose some of that when science gets involved and you feel the need to prove everything and have tangible evidence for how the world works. But you know what? I've seen so many miracles."

"You have?" I said surprised.

"In deed. I can't tell you how many times science has said something was impossible, and yet, it happens anyway. I've seen someone declared brain dead wake up from a coma and go on to lead a full life. I've seen diseases ravage bodies to the point where they're given only days left to live, and then somehow they pull through. People do the impossible all the time. If a patient with Lytchenstein Kolff Disease can become fully functioning and even go on to remarkably conceive a child, who somehow doesn't have the disease… well how can that be anything other than a miracle?"

Once again, tears wet my face. "So you believe me then? About everything? You really believe all of it?"

"Yes, I believe you. I said I told Edward I would help you, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but I wasn't sure if you really could fathom any of it. And with the baby seemingly healthy, I wouldn't blame anyone for have doubts."

"That, my dear, is where science stops, and faith begins. Now, go back up to my office to get some rest… and stop in the cafeteria on your way and get some thing to eat. That's doctor's orders."

I smiled graciously. "Thank you, Dr. El. You have no idea how much it means to have you believe me."

"If there is a way to bring Edward back to you, we will find it," he assured me.

…

Over the next week I continued to sleep in Dr. El's office, and when I was awake I spent most of my time doing research. The lack of information on the internet about Edwards disease was maddening. I must have read every word the web had to offer on the subject at least twice, and I was still no closer to finding a way to help him.

And then, yet another puzzling development..

"Bella, I have the results from your tests," Dr. El said after finding me in the cafeteria one morning.

"And?" I prompted, suddenly worried by his serious tone.

"Let's go into my office. We need to talk."

When we got there, he gestured for me to sit, so I did but he looked perplexed, which just worried me even more.

"I ran all the standard genetic tests that can be detected through blood work, and you were positive for Lytchenstein Kolff Disease," he said bluntly.

"What? I don't understand. How can that be possible? Like, I'm a carrier?" I asked confused. "The tests I did at KRO were conclusive that I'm not a carrier. It wouldn't benefit Carlisle to lie about that, so why would your tests say otherwise?"

"That's the strange part, I don't think you're a carrier either. Your blood showed the disease, but upon examining the DNA found in your saliva and hair follicle, there was no trace of the disease anywhere."

"Uh… okay," I said, unsure of exactly what that meant.

"You must have gotten it transferred to you from the fetus somehow," he continued. "That's the only explanation I can come up with for it being in your blood and nowhere else. What I don't understand is, why. Obviously you and the fetus are connected, but usually the fetus takes what it needs from the mother's blood, and not the other way around. Even more perplexing is that neither you nor the fetus are experiencing any of the disease symptoms."

"So, what does any of this mean?" I asked frustrated.

"I don't know," he said plainly. I huffed so he put up his hands to try to calm me. "Well, we do need to take into consideration that there has never been a second generation Lytchenstein Kolff Disease patient."

"Huh?" I asked confused.

"No patient has survived long enough to procreate, and if they had, they wouldn't be physically able to anyway. This is definitely a one of a kind case. Based on similar diseases where patients have reproduced, we would assume that the offspring would have a ninety eight percent chance to develop the disease as well. But judging from the ultrasound scan, I still firmly believe your baby is healthy."

I nodded absently to myself. "So all my test results back at KRO were lies."

"Not necessarily. I'm sure you did Chorionic Villi Sampling, right?" he asked knowingly.

"Yes, but that's an extremely accurate test."

"It is, but the disease it detected could have come from you since it is in your blood, and not from the baby at all. As I said, we never encountered a dormant adult form of the disease before the way Edwards was during the time of conception. You could have very well have gotten it passed to you through his semen… or..."

"It's not AIDS!" I said incredulously. "Genetic diseases are not contagious."

"I'm just theorizing right now. There are a million possibilities here. The small trace amounts of the disease aren't affecting you whatsoever, and I don't expect it to, but we won't know more until the infant is born. We also have to take into consideration that the fetus is female. There have only ever been males with the disease in the past that we know of… that could have something to do with its health as well."

I just stared at him in complete stunned wonderment.

"Is everything okay?" he asked me when he realized I wasn't moving.

"It's a girl?" I whispered.

"You didn't know? I'm sorry, I saw the gender on the ultrasound and just assumed that since you had the DNA test done previously, you already knew."

"Edward knew… but I wanted to wait."

"Sorry," he repeated regretfully.

I shook my head. "No, I'm glad I know now. It makes it more real in a way. Edward knows, so… it's a good thing that I do too," I decided. It wasn't a fetus anymore, or just any baby, it was our daughter, and for the first time, I didn't accept that she might not have a future. Our daughter would grow into a healthy woman, I would make sure of it.

…

I continued to sleep in Dr. El's office at the hospital, and he kept me updated on Edward's condition. But it felt like all I was doing was waiting; waiting for Garrett to call back, waiting for news about my dad, and waiting for the day when my baby would be born. I hated waiting!

As the next couple weeks unfolded, however, the monotony of the never-ending wait I was stuck in was beginning to break up. Dr. El's trust in me grew, and occasionally he'd let me shadow him during his rounds at the hospital. It didn't take long for me to begin to wonder if perhaps I became the wrong type of doctor. I had always worked on the genetic level within labs – my face was always stuck in a microscope instead of seeing the actual person who's genes I was examining. But talking to real people and even meeting their families was like lighting a fire within me. I could feel my passion for genetic diseases reignite. Every patient I encountered reminded me of Edward… or Alice. Each new face I saw was Emmett or Rose. Anyone I helped examine who couldn't see or hear but their mind was still incredibly sharp was Jasper in my eyes. And just like the Cullens, I wanted so badly to find a way to help each and every one of them.

I also spent time in the lab there, but there weren't the proper supplies to really work on Edward's particular case, so I was basically running blood tests for other patients. It wasn't the most exciting work, but at least it kept me busy. With my identity and living status still caught up in the legal system, I couldn't be hired anywhere for a real position, so I was grateful Dr. El allowed me to do any of it. He even paid me some money under the table, which I was sure was all entirely illegal, but at least he was a good, ethical man, unlike the monsters at KRO.

In addition to giving me a reason to not feel completely helpless again, Dr. El also said that he'd continue to talk to the Masen's about me in the hopes that they'd one day be receptive and give me a chance. I wasn't holding my breath, but it meant a lot that he was still trying. I missed Edward like crazy, and the thought that I may never be allowed to breathe the same air as him again was so agonizing that it was hard to not resent the Masens for keeping us apart. I still understood and respected them, and would never wish them ill will, but I was angry, and I wondered if I'd ever be able forgive them if Edward's time ran out and I missed all those precious moments I should have had with him.

A month past, and I was smack dab in the middle of my third trimester. Dr. El talked to me about inducing and delivering early, but I kept telling him no. It had nothing to do with worry for my daughter, I knew she'd be fine, but a part of me was really hoping that there would be another miracle and Edward would be fully functional again so he could be there to see our baby being born. It may have been an irrational dream, but I was holding on to it with every last ounce of energy I was capable of.

And then finally, there was some news…

"Bella, Garrett is on the phone," Dr. El's assistant told me while I was in lab. I pulled off my gloves, and hurried up to his office.

"Yes… Okay…" Dr. El was speaking to Garrett on the phone, and looked up at me when I came through the door. "Yes, she's right here, I'll let you speak to her." And then he held the phone out to me, which I grabbed without hesitation.

"Garrett?"

"Bella, thank God. Kate and I have been worried sick. How are you doing?"

"Me? How have you been. What happened with Carlisle?" I asked in a rush.

"By the time I got back from my other branch in Utah, he was long gone. I guess after you took off, he left as well. Kate's fine, and she's been taking care of the Cullens. They've been a little agitated, but otherwise doing fine," Garrett explained.

I took a sigh of relief. "So, where have you been? We've been trying to get a hold of you for weeks," I asked concerned.

"We had to move. It wasn't safe there; the KRO snoops were all over the place. We tried to play it cool, and they weren't aggressive, but we didn't want to contact you until we knew they weren't watching us anymore.

"I'm just glad everyone's OK. Thank you, Garrett. You guys put your lives on the line for us, and we'll never be able to fully repay you."

"Edward's been a good friend. I know he would have done the same for me if I needed it. Speaking of Edward, Doc said he's not doing so well?" he asked solemnly.

"He's hanging in there." I took a deep breath. "And he's made it much longer than we thought when we first got here. His family still won't let me see him though."

"Well, hang tight. Kate and I are bringing the Cullens to you," Garrett said unexpectedly.

"What? Really?" I asked way too excitedly.

"Yeah. I just got done talking to Dr. El, and he said he'll support them at his hospital. We'd keep them here with us, but I think they miss you."

"Oh, I miss them so much. Thanks, Garrett!"

"No problem. We'll see you in a few days."

I hadn't been so excited for anything in awhile, so when Garrett and Kate finally arrived with the Cullens I was practically giddy.

They all looked well taken care of, and both Emmett and Alice had huge smiles on their faces when they saw me.

"Hi guys!" I cried when they came into the room. I was sure Em recognized me, but none of the others did. Alice seemed to be happy anytime anyone gave her the smallest amount of attention, but that was OK. Seeing her act happy definitely made me feel worlds better as well.

We kept Emmett in the room when I discussed everything with Garrett and Kate, just because he was the only one capable of remotely understanding, and I knew he'd want to know. The rest were taken by a nurse to get settled in their new rooms.

"I can't believe they won't believe you," Kate said sadly after I told them about the Masens.

I shrugged. "I don't really blame them," I said honestly. "I just hate feeling like I'm missing what's left of his life."

"That's it," Garrett said suddenly.

"What?" Kate and I asked at the same time.

"Come on, we're going to see Edward."

"Garrett, they won't let me anywhere near him. His mom even threatened to get a restraining order."

"Well, I have no reason to lie to these people… I wasn't the one _molesting_ him," he said with a smirk. I glared at him, so he laughed. "Let's go."


	17. Believing

**Chapter 17 - Believing**

Dr. El leant us his car, so we drove to the other side of town to the Masen house. We knocked on the door, but as soon as Liza saw me, her face reddened and she looked like she was about to explode.

"Now, hold on there," Garrett said quickly after seeing Liza's death glare towards me. "My name is Garrett Turner, this is my fiancée, Kate. We are very good friends with your son."

"Oh, so now you've gotten others to lie with you?" Liza said to me bitterly.

"No, coming here today was my idea," Garrett said strongly. "I just wanted you to know that everything Bella said is true. Edward is probably the smartest, most gifted man I know, and I'm honored to call him my friend. Kate and I were trying to help them recreate their enzymes, but then those KRO scum came so they had to jump ship and we all got separated. But you aren't protecting your son by keeping the woman he loves from him."

"Get off my property. Now!" she seethed.

"Bella, please just go," my mom said, suddenly appearing behind Liza.

"Actually… I can prove our story," Garrett said unexpectedly.

"And how are you going to do that?" Liza asked, becoming even more upset.

"Babe, do you still have that phone?" Garrett asked Kate.

"Oh, right!" she said enthusiastically, and began digging in her purse. "Here," she said and handed him an iPhone.

"Now, I don't know how Alice managed to hide this while at the facility she was in before, but we found her guarding this thing like it was a twenty carat diamond." Garrett started tapping the screen, and then handed the phone to Liza.

"What is this?" she asked confused.

"It's a phone," Garrett said evenly.

"I know it's a phone. Why are you giving it to me?" she asked irritated, but then a video began to play. My mom squeezed in to watch, and I also hesitantly went closer to see what it was as well…

" _Come on Edward, I want it recorded so you can't back out later," Alice's voice chimed from out of view. She was obviously the one doing the recording._

 _"I'm not agreeing to anything," Edward musical voice said as he appeared on the screen wearing my favorite crooked smile - and at that moment, Liza and my mother gasped simultaneously._

 _"Come on… you already said you would do it," Alice whined._

 _"I lied," he said teasingly._

 _"Edward, if you don't then none of the others will either. Please?" she begged._

 _Edward sighed. "Ok, what do want me to say?"_

 _"I, Edward Anthony Masen Cullen," Alice said, then waited for him to repeat it._

 _He shook his head, but then just to make her happy, he repeated. "I, Edward Anthony … Do I really have to say the whole thing?" She must have glared at him, because then he smiled and continued. "Masen Cullen…"_

 _"…Swear that I will wear whatever Alice wants me to when we all go out for her birthday," she said excitedly, and then waited._

 _"Swear that I will wear-whatever-Alice-wants-me-to-when-we-all-go-out-for-her-birthday," Edward said quickly, blending all the words together. "Happy?" he said, appeasing her._

 _"Ooo!" she squealed, and then the video began bouncing, which I assumed was due to Alice jumping gleefully._

 _Edward's infectious laugh sounded as his image became blurry from the movement. And then the picture went black..._

I didn't even realize that I was crying until I had to blink away my tears to see the date on the video. It was taken right before we were all separated.

I had known Alice's birthday was coming, but I forgot about it with all the chaos that followed. She must have recorded it the last day she was 'awake' in the hopes that the next time they were brought out, she'd be able to force him to follow through with his promise. I then thought about the maternity cocktail dress she had begged me to buy, and realized that it was probably for whatever she wanted to do on her birthday.

I finally pried my eyes away from the phone, and looked up at Liza. She was sobbing noiselessly, and gazing at me with so much pain in her eyes, that it was hard to not get swallowed in it.

"I'm telling you," Garrett said softly to her. "I've known your son for years, and I've never heard him talk about anyone the way he talked about Bella here. Not even that wretched wench Heidi," he said bitterly.

"She was right about Carlisle," I told him absently.

"Well, only 'cause she got caught and she was fishing for some doubt and sympathy. I regret that she was killed, but I'm not sorry she's out of Edward's life," Garrett argued.

Liza and my mother kept staring at me, and finally Liza swallowed her grief enough to speak. "Bella, you're really carrying my grandchild… aren't you?"

I nodded. "It's a girl, I just found out," I said with a smile.

"I can't believe this. Everything you said is true…. I'm so, so, sorry, Bella. I… I don't know how you'll ever forgive me," she said somberly. "Doctor El tried telling me, but I wouldn't listen, I thought you just got to him somehow. I can't believe I pushed you away like that; you're pregnant with Teddy's baby, and I put you on the streets. My own grandchild…." She started getting hysterical, so I had to interrupt her.

"Liza, I wouldn't have believed it either," I said, trying to console her. "And I wasn't trying to make him grope me when you walked in on us before," I told her. "I don't know how his hand ended up there, but… we always used to sleep like that, so…" I shrugged, wondering why the hell I was telling her that.

"Bella, please forgive me?" she said emotionally.

"Of course," I said with a smile. She tentatively reached to embrace me, and I reached back. We hugged, and cried some more, and she continued to apologize incessantly, and I continued to tell her that it didn't matter anymore. I refused to waste a moment of my time on anger and resentment. She was only ever trying to protect her son, like any good mother would, how could I ever resent her for that. But above all else, she was my daughter's grandmother, and if for no other reason than that, I fully planned to let go of all my anger towards both her and my own mother.

"Liza, I just want to see him," I said after a few more minutes of her seemingly endless apologies.

"Of course," she said, and then she moved aside so we could go in.

I didn't hesitate. I practically ran passed them and straight to Edward's room. I couldn't get there fast enough, and I didn't even stop to consider he might be napping. I didn't care what state he was in, and I knew if he had the ability to care he wouldn't either. We needed to be together, and the moment that we were, the emotions I felt from finally being reunited were overwhelming, but I refused to break down. Somehow, someway, I held it together, and I did it only because of the fact that we had missed so much time already and I wouldn't even allow my own tears to cloud my vision in that moment. I wanted to see him clearly; to breathe him in deep into my core, and not have any of it muffled by my own sniveling.

"Hey," I said to him softly, while grabbing his hand and bringing it up to my cheek. I used my free hand to caress his face, and I couldn't stop myself from leaning forward to kiss his forehead over and over.

I pulled back just enough to look in his eyes, and his love for me shinning back was immeasurable. He still knew me, and there's wasn't anything more I could ask for in that moment.

"God, I missed you so much," I said before kissing him again, then pulling back one more time so I could take a moment to really look him over.

Due to the way his disease broke down his body, a month for him was equivalent to years for everyone else. Thankfully, much to my surprise, he didn't look much worse than he did the last time I saw him, but he definitely seemed tired. Even though he usually slept most of the day, I knew he was always exhausted from his constant battle to keep some form of awareness. It would have been easier for him to just give in and let the disease take over entirely, but he refused to stop fighting it, and again, I was grateful.

Like when we were together last, our daughter started kicking like crazy, so I put his hand on my stomach so he could feel it. "She missed you too," I murmured as I stroked his hair with my other hand.

We had made it. He had survived long enough for us to have that moment I was so desperate for… but it wasn't enough. It just would never be enough. I needed him back with me completely. I only wished I knew how to make that possible.

After a while, Garrett and Kate came in to say hello to Edward too, but they didn't stay long, and left the room with Liza and my mom to give me and Edward some more time. Again, I crawled into bed with him, and told him everything about the past month that he missed. I told him about how amazing Dr. El. had been, and how we got the Cullens settled into their new, hopefully temporary, rooms at the hospital. I assured him that they were all ok, except seemed irritated with their bodies, which I was sure he related to. I had no idea how much he understood, but it didn't really matter. Just talking to him out loud, and being able to touch him again, was the best thing I had experienced in what felt like a very long time.

After awhile longer, I heard the door squeak back open from behind me, which was followed by the sound of footsteps tiptoeing towards us.

"His eyes come alive when he looks at you," Liza said gently.

"He understands me. He remembers exactly what we mean to each other."

"How can you be sure?" she asked. She wasn't challenging me, she was just looking for something that she could see herself.

"I can see it in his eyes," I said to her. "And he's told me things about when we were kids. Things he couldn't have known if he didn't remember them. His awareness isn't clear, but he's definitely there, listening."

"I can't imagine how horrible that must be for him," she said quietly. "But it's not him, Bella, it's you."

"What do you mean?" I questioned.

"He never looked at me like that."

I laughed once humorlessly. "We have a different relationship."

"I know, but that's not what I mean. Even when he was a child, I tried so hard to have some type of connection with him. Just a spark of awareness, and I never saw one. Maybe that's why I couldn't believe your story. I just couldn't even imagine him being anything more than that." She took a deep breath. "I've been watching that phone video of him over and over again, just to trying to get a sense of who he was, but it wasn't until right now, seeing him seeing you, that I can really feel his life and who he is."

"I pray you'll be able to actually have a conversation with him someday, so you can get to know him better yourself," I told her, getting choked up again.

"Bella, can I see them?… The Cullens, I mean. I want to meet Edward's family - He does prefer being called 'Edward', am I right?"

"Yes, he does… And I do think the Cullens would like a visit from you…and Edward would appreciate it as well," I said with a smile.

Since transporting four extremely mentally and physically disabled adults wasn't the easiest thing in the world, I kissed Edward and promised him I'd be back soon, and then I took Liza to the hospital to meet our family.

When we got there, I introduced them as if there was absolutely nothing abnormal about them, and Liza took time with each one individually and spoke to them as if they were of great importance, which they were.

After talking to Emmett, Alice, and Rosalie, I brought her over to Jasper.

"So, he can't hear or see or even feel anything at all?" she said, sorrow-filled.

"No, but despite his issues, he has one of the sharpest minds I've ever known, and that doesn't change, even in this state."

"That's horrible. It must be like living in a prison."

I nodded. "Aside from Edward, if I could only find a way to help one of them, it would be him. The others don't understand as much, but Jasper just sits in a black hole of nothingness. I just can't imagine."

"Bella, you will be able to recreate the medication they all need to bring them back to full awareness, right? I mean, you'll figure it out eventually. Its been done before so it can be done again?"

I sighed. "To be honest with you, Liza, I'm not so sure anymore. Their medication is all different, and they're all so complex, it may be out of my mental capacity." I shook my head just thinking about it. "If I could just find a way to get Edward what he needs, then I know he could fix the rest of them. He's the one who figured out how to help them in the first place… Without all his notes and formulas, it would be difficult for him, but he would not fail. I really believe he's their only chance, so I need keep concentrating on him first. He's the key to everything else."

"Dr. El did mention you working every day to try to help Edward. Have you gotten any closer?" she asked with a spark of hope.

"I've been searching every resource I can find for even the smallest clue as to how Edward's medication worked and could be recreated, but there's just nothing. I even researched all the Multiple Sclerosis resources I could find since that's what Carlisle had been working on when he discovered Edward's enzyme, but I can't find anything helpful whatsoever," I said, with my frustration on the matter seeping through, despite my attempts to keep it contained.

"But you also haven't been working in the best conditions. A hospital like that is too busy, and probably doesn't have the right supplies you need. If you had a properly equipped lab to work in, you'd get closer to finding the enzyme than you would just doing research in a library, right? Bella, Tony and I are prepared to liquidate all our assets so you can have the money you need to build your lab. We'd give you every last penny we have if it could possibly help our son and his family."

I nodded, completely unsurprised by her offer. That's just the kind of people the Masen's were. "I know you would, and Dr. El and Garrett both offered to help financially support it as well… but Carlisle and Edward are geniuses. They've done some truly amazing work, but it still took them years and many losses for them to have any success. I'm only a geneticist; I just don't have any knowledge on that type of thing. I don't even know how I'd begin to map out the formula."

"Bella, please don't give up on him," Liza said, taking me aback.

 _Was that how I sounded? Like I was giving up?_ \- "Oh no, Liza, I'll never give up on Edward, I'm just trying to explain why I'm no closer to figuring it all out. I'm trying… I just don't know where to go from here."

"Having the proper supplies would be a start," Liza said assuredly. "Bella, if anyone is motivated enough to figure this out, its you."

"You're right. I would work on this until my dying breath if I had to." I sighed again. "I mean, with enough funds I could possibly hire other doctors who are more qualified to help me figure something like this out…. But Edward said the supplies alone to make the compounds are incredibly expensive. We're talking in the millions. With your money, and El's and Garrett's combined, I'm afraid it still wouldn't be enough."

"But Garrett told us that before Edward fell sick again, you were attempting to make the enzymes in his Florida lab without KRO funding. How were you planning to afford it then?"

"Edward had personal contacts he made through his supply carriers at KRO who agreed to help finance. I've tried contacting them again, but they're unwilling to support just me. They believe it would be a waste of their money without Edward's gifted mind."

"It just makes me so angry!" Liza shouted suddenly. "There is a man out there who knows how to save my son, and he just refuses. How can all those years they had together mean nothing to him?"

"I don't understand it either. Carlisle always referred to Edward as his son. They seemed to really love and respect each other. Having Carlisle betray Edward like that was extremely hurtful to him. He was completely blindsided."

"How could someone claim to be a parent and then do something like that?" Liza asked.

I huffed. "Well, you'd be surprised how heartless some parents can be. Jasper is a Whitlock, and he was just tossed aside by his father due to his illness."

"Whitlock?" she asked, clearly recognizing the name.

"Yeah, he…."

"Bella, what's wrong?" she asked, not understanding why I paused.

"Oh, my god. I can't believe I never thought about this sooner! Liza, I need to borrow some money for a plane ticket."

"A plane ticket? Where are you going so close to your due date?" she asked concerned.

"Texas."

"What's in Texas?" she asked.

"Governor Whitlock. He's Jasper's father, and he comes from one of the wealthiest families in the country. I'm going to go there and get all the funding we need."

"If they didn't care about him, then how are you going to convince them to help you?" Liza asked confused.

"Carlisle was the one who said the Whitlock's didn't care about Jasper. He lied about almost everything else so how do we know if he was telling the truth about this? He told you guys Edward died, so maybe he told the Whitlock's the same thing. His disease is even more rare than Edward's, I'm sure Carlisle and Aro would have said just about anything to get their hands on him."

"Ok, but what if they really don't care? You'll have wasted your time away from Edward for nothing."

I shook my head. "I'm not going to leave there without the money I need. If they don't want to give it to me out if the kindness of their hearts, there's always blackmail."

"Bella, are you sure that's a good idea?" Liza asked worriedly.

"I'll only be gone for a day. I'll fly there and fly straight back as soon as I'm done speaking to him. If we're even going to have a chance at helping them, then we need that financing. Besides, the power of the Whitlock family could help us fight KRO if and when they decide to make a move."

…

I absolutely hated sitting on an airplane heading in the opposite direction of Edward, especially since I was just allowed back in his life, but I knew it was something I had to do. The airline wasn't going to let me on the plane because I was so close to my due date, but I gave them a doctor's note stating that it was ok. Dr. El hated doing it, but he understood the importance so he wrote one out for me.

Liza asked if she could accompany me, and I wasn't about to tell her no; she didn't want me to be alone in case I went into labor. I agreed, but I was even more eager for her to come because she was a tough, no hassle kind of woman, and I figured she could help me persuade the Whitlocks if needed.

I spent the entire plane ride trying to figure out what I was going to say to them when I got there. The Whitlocks were a powerful family, and I highly doubted they'd let just let anyone go in to see them; I needed a plan, however with so many unknown variables that could possibly come into play, I pretty much knew I'd end up having to wing it.

...

"We need to speak to the Governor, right away," I said to the administrator at the state capitol building after arriving in Austin. I was surprised by how calm I was, but then again, I knew I wouldn't be leaving that building without the money so there really wasn't anything else to be nervous about… at least, that's what I told myself.

The woman smirked. "Yeah, you and about two hundred different lawmakers. Fill out this paperwork with your questions, and maybe he'll get back to you sometime in the next five months."

"That's not going to work for us," I said with the same cocky tone she was using. "Go tell him that I need to speak to him about Jasper, and I need to speak to him now, or else I'm going to the media." - I suppose blackmail was a good way to start as opposed to a last resort.

The woman stared at me, trying to call bluff, but when I raised my eyebrows at her challengingly, she got up and silently walked to out of the room. Liza and I waited a good hour before the woman finally came back with an uneasy expression on her face.

"Right this way," she said, and gestured for us to follow her.

We walked the length of the building until we came to a guarded area, where the administrator showed her ID, and the security team let us pass. We walked through one more door, and then a man immediately started yelling at us.

"Who the hell are you, and what do you know about my son?" he demanded.

I took a deep breath. "Actually, I know Jasper personally; I currently have custody of him back in Arizona," I told him, which was only a partial lie. I didn't technically have custody, but since the Cullens had arrived at El's hospital, everyone treated me as if I was responsible and left me to make any and all decisions for the four of them.

"Get this lunatic out of here!" Mr. Whitlock told one of the guards. "My son is dead," he said solemnly, and that's when I knew that he did, in fact, love Jasper. His face was full of pain, and someone who didn't care would never be capable of having that heavy of an expression.

I took out Alice's iPhone, and played the video she made of Jasper on the same day she made the one of Edward. Jasper's video wasn't much different than Edward's, except he used the word 'honey' a lot, and when he was done swearing he'd wear whatever Alice wanted him to, she held the camera up so it could record them kissing.

Governor Whitlock seemed like a rigid, uptight man, but watching the video of his son broke him down into tears. He may have hid his son from the media, but it was clear that he cared the world for him.

"I don't know if you even know what KRO is, but they found an enzyme that allows Jasper and a few others to function in a way they never could in the past. They conducted their research unethically, which is why Jasper had to be removed from there. Now we need funding if we're going to even attempt to recreate that enzyme. You can have full access to our work; we won't do anything that needs to be hidden," I told him.

Gov. Whitlock was listening to me, but the expression on his face was different, it was like he was reminiscing about something, and he was...

"Jasper wasn't always sick," the Governor told me. "He was born a healthy, normal baby; at least we thought he was. When he was six, he had problems with his sight and hearing, and then we had some testing done and found out he had a genetic disease. I was so… ashamed because we discovered that it came from my side of the family. His disease got progressively worse, and I gave millions to research companies trying to find a cure… but there wasn't one. Now, you're telling me there is a cure after all?"

"The enzyme only allows them to function for a few days at a time, but we were very close to finding a link that would allow him to remain aware permanently," I explained. "It may take time, but I'm confident with the funding we need, we will figure out a way."

"I didn't sell my son, if that's what you're thinking," he said abruptly. "I didn't visit him the way I should have. I just couldn't… it was too painful for me. He's my only child, and I couldn't bear seeing him like that. I'm not proud to say that it had been years since I visited him last before they told me he was dead. I didn't investigate it; I didn't even ask how he died. His disease wasn't fatal, but I didn't question it. My first thought was how to keep it under wraps so the media wouldn't find out. I wanted to believe he was better off dead."

"Well, it's time for you to step up and help your son now," I told him strongly. "Come visit him in Arizona. Fund our research lab, and when we find the enzyme, you can apologize to him yourself for you absence."

"You're pregnant, you look like you're about to pop. How do I know that once your baby is born you won't get overwhelmed with motherhood and forget all about my son?"

"That would never happen," I assured him. I then told him all about the time I spent with the Cullens, and I stressed to him just how much I loved each of them. "They are my family, and I'd never forget them, or give up."

He nodded, and then wrote me a blank check. "Take what you need to get started, and then call me when you need more. Here's my personal number."

"Thank you, Sir. You won't be sorry," I told him, and then took the check, and Liza and I went back to the airport.

My heart was racing with adrenaline, and I was almost euphoric. "I can't believe we actually have the money! I mean, I was confident we'd get it, but we actually did! This is just the first step to getting them all back."

"You're absolutely amazing. Do you know that?" Liza said with tears in her eyes.

I shrugged. "It was Alice's video that won over the governor. Without Jasper recorded for him to see, he would have never believed me."

Liza shook her head. "Still, that was really remarkable."

"Thanks," I said, not knowing how else to respond.

We got back to Phoenix late that night – or early the next morning, depending on how you looked at it. Liza had a town car come and pick us up. I was so tired that I nearly fell asleep, but when we rounded the corner to the Masen house I perked right up.

"Um, I was supposed to be dropped off at the hospital," I said wondering if she forgot to tell the driver.

"I thought you'd prefer to stay at our house. I wouldn't think Dr. El's office couch was very comfortable. Besides, don't you want to see Teddy?… I mean Edward. Don't you want to see Edward?"

"I'm sure he's sleeping; it's two in the morning," I told her. Of course I wanted to see Edward, but I didn't want to risk waking him at that hour, and I was exhausted.

"Well, then you can see him right when he wakes up. If you'd rather go to the hospital I'll have the car turn around and we'll take you, but I'd love to have you at the house tonight."

"Are you sure? I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"Bella, you lived with me for years."

"Yeah, but that was before… I mean, I understand why it's hard for you to think of Edward as an adult, and the fact that I'm pregnant with his baby… I see how that could be difficult for you to be around."

"It is hard for me to look at him as a man, but I know that's what he is, and I'm sure he'd want you there. I just want to make it as easy as possible for him, and I really think he worries about you. It's more than ok, I promise."

I was unsure, but nodded in agreement. Even if I thought she really didn't want me there, it would be difficult to pass up the offer to sleep under the same roof as Edward again, even if it was just for the one night. I still ached for him every second of every day, and spending all day away in a different state after being apart from him for so long, made that ache even greater.

Everyone was asleep when we got in, so we quietly crept through the house and I began tiptoeing towards my old bedroom to turn in for the night.

"Uh, Bella?" Liza whisper-yelled. I turned back to her questionably, and she walked over to where I was so she could stay quiet.

"That's actually not your room anymore," she said apologetically.

"Oh, sorry, I just assumed."

"Well, since the baby is going to be born soon, and I was hoping that you'd be spending a lot of time here with her… and possibly let me babysit when you were at lab, I asked Tony and your mom to change this into a nursery while we were gone," Liza explained.

She opened the door, and switched on the light. "I had just found out what an idiot I was for not believing you right before we left, so I didn't have much time to think about what you would like. So, I found this online and had Tony go buy the whole set from the baby store. What do you think?"

"Wow," I said a little overwhelmed. Seeing the nursery made me realize that I didn't even have a plan as to where I was going to take the baby after it was born. I was never into the whole baby thing before, so I never had an idea of what my perfect nursery would look like, but the room Liza had Tony and Renée make was absolutely stunning. It was feminine without being frilly, and it was fully equipped with everything a baby could possibly need.

"It came out really nice," she said while wiping the moisture from her cheek.

"Its perfect," I agreed.

"Bella, I really want you to live here with us again… at least until you figure out what you're going to do. We want you to stay forever, but I know you'll probably want your own space eventually. Tony and I are going to help you in any way you need."

"I really don't know what to say," I replied honestly. I didn't want to impose, but as long as Edward was there, I wanted to be too.

"Say yes," she said, and we both giggled lightly. "Come on, I know you must be ready to pass out. Let's get you to bed," she said, and opened the next door down the hall, which used to be Edward's so I wondered where she moved him to. But when I went inside, nothing had changed and Edward was on the bed fast asleep. "I figured you'd want to be in here with him?" she said uneasily. "If you don't want to, we can bring a twin bed back into the nursery," she said quickly because I didn't respond right away.

"Liza, you can't possibly be comfortable with this," I said quietly.

"Like I said before, I'm fine. He's not my little boy anymore, and I can accept that. Truthfully, if you decided to move out and take him with you, I wouldn't stop you. He wants to be with you, I know that now." She smiled at me reassuringly, and then turned and walked towards the other side of the house where her bedroom was.

I knew it was hard for her, but I wasn't about to dwell on it at that moment. I went inside the room and shut the door behind me, before crawling into Edward's bed next to him. It was dark in the room, but despite my carefulness, Edward's eyes sprung opened and he looked at me.

"I didn't mean to wake you," I said softly. His eyes smiled at me, and I knew he was just as glad to see me as I was him. "Jasper's father gave us the money. I'm going to go see about buying a spot for the lab tomorrow," I told him. He blinked at me, and I knew he understood. I kissed him gently, before snuggling in next to him, and falling asleep with my head on his shoulder.

…

"Bella," someone said while shaking me. "Bella, wake up!"

"Huh?" I asked groggily.

"It's nine in the morning. I need to do Edward's morning feeding," Renée said, trying to get me to move so she could have better access to him.

"Oh, mom here, I got it," I said and took it from her. I stood up so I could get the supplement, when suddenly there was a sharp pain in my lower back.

"What's wrong?" Mom asked concerned.

"Nothing, I think I just got up wrong. I'm fine," I tried assuring her, but a few minutes later, the sharp pain jolted me again, and I realized the discomfort was far more serious than the result of a poor sleeping position…


	18. Little Wondors

**Chapter 18 - Little Wonders**

"Bella, I think you're having contractions," Renée said, taking me by surprise.

I shook my head no. "First comes lightening, where the baby moves further down in the pelvis, and then the mucus plug will pass, and anywhere between two weeks and a few hours later, I'll begin contractions. This is just a strain _, or maybe Braxton Hicks_ ," I said, with my voice rising at the end due to more onset pain.

"Bella, you are such a doctor; everything by the book. When are you scientific types going to understand that sometimes nature has other plans?" she said with a nervous chuckle.

"I'm not in labor," I replied in denial, but a few minutes later the pain in my back returned… and it was accompanied with tightening in my lower abdomen.

"Yep, definitely contractions!" Renée said excitedly.

I finished Edward's morning routine as quickly as possible, and then let Renée and Liza take me to the hospital. Tony was going to stay with Edward until closer to the actual birth, but I absolutely hated leaving him. If I really was in labor, Edward should have been the one escorting me to the hospital, not our mothers. It just wasn't fair. I wasn't ready. I was supposed to fix him first so he could be the one holding my hand through the contractions, and cutting our daughter's cord, and all the other stuff new daddies got to experience, but I guess it wasn't up to me. She was ready, so I had no other choice but to be ready as well.

When we arrived at the hospital, I changed into one of the dreaded scratchy gowns, and the nurses hooked me up to monitors and an IV. When I was all situated, Dr. El came in and introduced me to another doctor.

"Bella, this is Doctor Molina. He's the best high risk OBGYN that I have the privilege of working with. We've been partners for a long time, and believe it or not, he delivered Edward. He knows all about Lytchenstein Kolff Disease, and whenever we know of an infant being born with it, or a disease like it, Doctor Molina is the one usually called in," Dr. El explained.

"I thought you said the baby was healthy?" Liza asked in a panic.

El put his hands up in an attempt to calm her. "I am extremely confident the baby is healthy and normal, but since the disease was detected in Bella's blood, and the baby's father has the disease, we are just being extra cautious and taking every precaution. We have the NICU on standby as well… just in case."

I wasn't worried about the baby having the disease, I knew in my heart and soul she was absolutely fine, but I appreciated the back up. I nodded a hello to the doctor, but another contraction came, and although I was somewhat still in denial, it hurt like hell.

"Well, let's see where you're at," Dr. Molina said. After checking me for dilation, he informed me that I was at a five, and it would be a few hours at least. But the baby's heartrate was strong, and everything looked great, which was all that really mattered.

Just as Dr. Molina was leaving the room, Garrett and Kate came in to visit.

"Does it hurt?" Kate asked the moment she saw me.

"Hi, Kate. Texas went great. Thanks for asking," I said mockingly, because she didn't even saw hello and looked more scared than I was.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly. "Liza already said it went well when she called us to say you were in labor."

"Kate is just freaking out because she knows I want kids someday, and she is terrified of the birth experience," Garrett explained.

"Ah, I see," I said with a smile.

"I adore kids, and I'd love to have twenty of them, but…" Kate said defensively, and then I crunched my face in pain from a contraction, and she noticed. "See? Right there! That's why I don't want to give birth," she said in full panic mode.

"I'm fine," I huffed. "I've always been the opposite. The idea of birth doesn't freak me out… it's being responsible for another human being that does it for me."

"Ooo, maybe you can be my surrogate," Kate suggested. "And I'll help you with the 'being responsible' part."

"Bella, you are going to be an amazing mother," Liza tried convincing me. "You are so loving, and you already have experience taking care of people. You take care of the Cullen's, and Edward.."

"Yeah, and you've always taken care of me too," Renée agreed. "You were the one with the level head on your shoulders, even as a kid. I would have been lost without you."

"A baby is different than anything or anyone I've cared for in the past," I argued. "I'm petrified. I just know I'm going to screw this kid up somehow."

"Oh, every expectant mother has those worries," Liza assured me.

I shook my head. "The pain of giving birth is going to be cake compared to actually raising this baby for the next eighteen years at least."

"So its settled then! Bella's going to be my surrogate," Kate joked.

Just then another wave of pain crashed over me, and it was definitely stronger than the previous ones, so when it was over I looked up at Kate and said, "Nope. I'm not doing this ever again."

Liza and my mom laughed, but Kate's eyes just grew wider; even more horrified than before. "They're still getting worse?" she asked.

"That aint nothing," Mom whispered.

"Oh, by the way," Garrett said suddenly. "Since this is my best friend's baby and all, my gift to you guys is free cord blood banking for life."

"Really?" I asked appreciatively.

"Of course. In fact, I've already got my kit waiting in the hall. It's been awhile since I've gathered the blood personally, but this should be fun."

"What's cord blood banking?" Renée asked confused.

"When a baby is born, there are stem cells in the umbilical cord blood," Kate began to explain. "Those cells have been proven to treat various types of cancers, blood disorders, blood and immune system related genetic diseases, and so on. It's truly amazing stuff, and parents like to bank their babies' blood, just in case they ever need it in the future."

As I listened to Kate trying to explain stem cells in layman's terms for my mother, everything became suddenly clear. It hit me like a truck, and I felt so ridiculously stupid for not thinking about it sooner.

"Garrett, can you get Doctor El for me please?" I asked him.

"Sure," he said, and rushed out of the room. Two minutes later, both men returned.

"What's wrong, Bella?" Dr. El asked.

"What about stem cells?" I said eagerly.

"What about them?"

"There are all sorts of diseases they have cured, and we're only beginning to understand them. Maybe if we use them for Edward…"

"Could that work?" Liza asked eagerly.

"I'm not sure. Usually stem cells only work for blood disorders, some cancers, and diseases on a cellular level, however, we also don't know enough about Lytchenstein Kolff Disease to properly determine the cause or how it's rooted. We have tried donated stem cells for the disease in other patients in the past, but never cells that were genetically related to the patient. Actually, this baby, and her umbilical cord, are complete mysteries. As far as science and genetics are concerned, she should have the disease, and Bella should have been sick the entire pregnancy. I really don't know what to make of all of it, but it's definitely worth a shot," Dr. El contemplated.

"Liza, can you go call Tony and have him bring Edward here?" I asked her.

"Now? I thought you wanted to wait until you're further along."

"No. I want him prepped for this," I said with determination.

"Bella, you don't have to do it right away. My banking method will keep the blood perfect, and when everything settles we can try then," Garrett suggested, but I shook my head.

"No, it has to be right away. We don't know how much time Edward has to wait. The stem cell lines need to be established, and then we need to isolate the diseased cells in Edward, and kill them off so they can be replaced. That all needs to be mapped out first, which may take a couple days alone."

"The stem cells will need at least a week to grow and cultivate," Garrett informed me.

I nodded. "Still, we need Edward here as soon as possible to have his bloodwork done and get him prepped. This is going to be very difficult on his body. He needs to be the healthiest possible beforehand."

"I agree with Bella," El decided. "We can begin killing off his diseased cells while the baby's stem cells are growing. It's a multi-step procedure. We may as well get Edward started so he's ready when the cells are."

"Whatever you think is best," Liza said, obviously not really understanding anything we were talking about. But she trusted us, so she practically ran out of the room to call her husband.

As the hours ticked by, my contractions got stronger and closer together, however I pushed the pain aside so I could stay focused on rehashing our course of action for the procedure to come. Everyone was surprised that I wanted to be working while in labor, but the truth was, trying to figure everything out was a welcomed distraction from the pain, and above all else, getting Edward well was the single most important thing.

However, it wasn't too long before I could no longer speak through the pain, so Dr. El insisted we pause the plans until after the birth. I hated stopping, but I finally agreed since I couldn't think clearly anymore anyway.

I braced myself through the next set of contractions, and was beyond grateful when Nurse Benjamin wheeled Edward into the room on a hospital bed. He was then set up with an IV drip of his own, so he'd be as healthy as possible for the major transition his body was about to go through over the next couple weeks.

I still wished he was aware and could clearly experience the birth of our daughter with me, but just having him in the room gave me that sense of calm that only he could, which also gave me the extra strength I needed to get through the highest level of physical pain I had ever experienced.

And at seven fifteen P.M. that evening, our daughter made her grand entrance into the world. She was a healthy shade of pink, with an even healthier set of screaming lungs. She even scored a ten on her Apgar test. She was absolutely breathtaking, and I was in compete awe.

I was a mother.

It was something I had never wanted, and yet, I realized in that moment that it was something I always needed. I needed to be her mother. My life had been leading me towards her all along, and it was so surreal in the best possible way.

After they placed her on my stomach to clean her off, she was tucked under my hospital gown and I just stared into her oddly aware eyes, and felt an overwhelming sense of peace. There was no other feeling like that in the world, and I knew somehow everything was going to be OK. She was our little miracle, and she was going to bring us another miracle by saving her daddy. I was just sure of it.

Dr. El ordered a genetic test on her right away just to make certain she was, indeed, healthy, but I didn't need the results to know that she was perfect.

After I held her for a while, and kissed her sweet little cherub cheeks over and over again, I handed her to Liza and asked her to place her on Edward's chest. He needed to see our daughter and get a chance to hold her as well, regardless of his ability to use his arms to do so. Liza looked a little concerned because the baby was still fussing, but the moment she was lying on her father's chest, she calmed right down.

Liza and Renée couldn't stop crying the entire time, and then Tony came in and he started crying as well. While they were all cooing and gushing over the baby, I watched carefully as Garrett extracted the cord blood, and then Dr. El took what was left, along with the placenta, to the lab for more testing.

"So, what's her name?" Mom asked me as the nurse took my daughter to be weighed and measured.

"Oh… I haven't even thought about it yet. Edward and I never discussed it because it just never seemed real," I admitted. Carlisle had told us she probably wouldn't make it to birth, so I think we were trying to not get too attached to her, but it had all been for nothing because she was definitely meant for our world. "I'm going to need to think about it for a little while. I want it to be something Edward would really like too."

When the baby was brought back into the room, I nursed her and then let Liza have another turn holding her. I couldn't help but smile as I watched her kiss her copper curls, and began humming as she rocked her in her arms and played with her tiny fingers. She looked at her with that same level of fierce love I always saw in her eyes while caring for Edward, and I realized then that it was Liza who had subtly taught me everything I'd ever need to know about being a mother. She had been my role model growing up; the perfect example of what a good, strong mother should be, and helped shape me into the woman I ultimately became.

After a few minutes, Liza brought the baby to Edward again, and put her on his chest then rested her hand on her back as she continued to hum and sing softly to the both of them. It was just like when she would play piano when we were younger; that serenity carried through the room and everyone took a few moments to stop and listen. It was the calm we probably all needed before it was time to jump into the coming hectic storm of uncertainty in the battle to save Edward.

But while watching my daughter with her father and his mother, suddenly I was accosted by a not so happy reminder - My father was still missing. What if Charlie was never found and my baby never got the honor of meeting him? Liza may have been my role model, but my dad was my hero, and the thought of my daughter never knowing him was very sad. Then again, if Edward was never cured, our daughter wouldn't get to truly know her own father either, and that was definitely the greater tragedy.

At the moment, there was nothing I could do for Charlie. I needed to concentrate on helping the family I had in that hospital. But thinking about my father and my daughter, and Edward and his mother, I started getting nostalgic. I thought about my life, and who had made the biggest impact on me growing up, and I knew without a doubt it was the two of them: Charlie and Liza. I never would have had the courage to be who I needed to be without my dad, and Liza taught me strength, so in my heart, my daughter's name became clear.

"Charlize," I whispered after she was brought back to nurse again.

"Charlotte?" Renée asked, unsure what I said because I had only whispered it.

"Charlize," I repeated louder. "A combination of Charlie and Elizabeth," I clarified. "Charlize Marie Masen."

"That's beautiful," Liza said with tears in her eyes. "Thank you, Bella."

"I just hope Edward likes it," I said quietly.

By the next day, I was feeling pretty good and already getting antsy being stuck in that hospital room. I couldn't wait any longer, so I decided to take an hour or so to see what was going on with our friends in the hospital lab, where they were currently working on Edward's upcoming procedure. I was nursing, so I couldn't be gone long, and I really didn't want to be either, but I needed to feel like I was doing something about helping Edward. Liza stayed with him and Charlize, so I knew they were in good hands and I wasn't worried about them whatsoever.

"Bella, I wasn't expecting you here so soon," Dr. El said as I walked into the lab.

"I just need to know what's going on," I said anxiously.

"How did Charlize do all night?" Kate asked me. Kate actually made me laugh by the way she was so scared during the birth, but after she saw Charlize she adored her to the point where she told Garrett she wanted to start trying for one of their own right away.

"Good," I replied. "She only cried when she wanted to eat. I just can't wait until Edward is able to really hold her. I need to get this figured out before she gets any bigger and he misses it."

"Well, I think we are close to finishing the mapping. We've identified Edward's disease on the cellular level, so we just have to get it separated and then we'll need to prepare it to be replaced. How's the stem line coming along?" Dr. El asked Garrett.

"Almost done," he said surprisingly. "We should be cultivating it real soon here."

"Wow, how could you be almost done?" I asked knowing how complex it all was.

"We've been basically working non-stop. I think I took a bathroom break last night sometime," Kate said, sounding almost as exhausted as she looked.

"Wow?" I said extremely appreciative. "That's amazing, but make sure you all take care if yourselves. I don't want anyone getting burned out."

"We don't want Edward running out of time either," Garrett said determinedly.

"Why is this not working?" El said abruptly, full of frustration.

"What's wrong?" I asked concerned.

El huffed. "No need to worry yourself. I'll figure it out."

"Dr. El, what's going on?" Garrett asked insistently.

El sighed. "I'm trying to test Edward's cells to see if they're going to be receptive of the stem cells, but they keep rejecting them. Its as if somethings not lining up the way it should."

"Can I see?" I asked, hoping there was something I could help with.

"Of course," El said, and moved out of the way so I could look in the microscope…

Seeing a close up view of Edward's cells, along with our daughter's stem cells, was an amazing thing. Those tiny little swiggles were more than just twenty three pairs of chromosomes, and they certainly were more than just some X's and Y's... they were the foundation of life - Those wondrous little cells would bring our family back to the life we were meant to be living.

And then I saw it, a tiny infraction in Edward's Y chromosome, just like the one I found when I was working on the other case at KRO. "Here, you just need to make this small adjustment, and then it should accept the change in the cells."

"I can't believe I missed that?" El said amazed as Garrett came over to look at the chromosomes as well.

"Sometimes, the biggest problems aren't the most complicated," I said with a shrug. "They just need a fresh way of thinking."

"You're definitely right about that," El agreed.

"So, does it even matter that these cells are from a female, and Edward is a male?" Kate asked Dr. El.

"No, but if it was the other way around, it may be an issue. We all start off basically female, and because of that, it is much easier for a male to accept female DNA. Plus, female strands of chromosomes are much stronger. They truly make better donors."

"Hear that, babe?" Kate said to Garrett. "Females are basically better at everything."

"Yes dear," Garrett said absently, obviously not even listening to what she was saying. "It worked!" Garrett then said astonished while looking into El's microscope. "It actually fucking worked! Bella, that tiny, seemingly insignificant change did it. You did it!"

I took a turn to look in the microscope as well, and saw the stem cells lined up perfectly with Edward's, and I wanted to cry. "No, we did it!" I said, feeling so high from our little victory that I could almost take flight.

"Now its time for the hard part," Dr. El informed us, bringing us back down to earth. "Lets see if the infusion holds."

"You said you tried stem cells with previous patients with this disease?" I remembered, feeling concerned once again.

"Yes, and this is as far as we have been successful," El said nervously. "All the previous cases looked good like this in the lab, but when it came time to actually implement the new cultivated cells, the body would attack them and continue to make the disease. But again, those stem cells were from unrelated donors, this is an entirely different circumstance."

I nodded and swallowed hard as I tried to remain positive. We wouldn't know if Edward would accept the new cells, or if the disease would ultimately win the battle until the cells were finished growing and transfused into Edward. The wait would be a hard one.

So I went back to my room just in time for Charlize's feeding, and I wasn't sure if I felt better after my little lab field trip, or even more worried than before.

Much like with a bone marrow transplant, Edward would have to go through intense radiation in an attempt to kill enough of the diseased cells that the stem cells would have a chance at taking over the rest, but it was a dangerous process. There were still so many variables that could go wrong that it was hard not to be terrified, and yet, being positive was an utmost necessity, so I had to force myself to try.

The day that followed should have been our release date. Edward and I should have been bringing our new baby home from the hospital, with all the joys that accompanied it, instead we spent that morning saying goodbye. It was time for Edward to begin his radiation, and because of the state he was in, El decided it would be best to sedate him for the process. It was a very real possibility that he could die from the procedure, so it was safe to say we were all terrified.

I kissed his forehead, told him how much I loved him, then held his hand while his parents and Renée did the same. When Dr. El administered the drug to put him to sleep, we all said our silent prayers, and the silence in the room was deafening. Thank god Charlize started crying and distracted all of us.

"Is it time for her to eat again?" Liza asked me, while wiping away her fearful tears.

"I think so," I said while going over to her bassinet and picking her up.

"I don't know if I can do this again," Liza then said while looking back at Edward. "I can't even remember how many painful procedures he had been through as a child. When we thought he died, I was grateful he would at least never have to endure another one. Now look at him."

"That's right, Liza, look at him," I told her. "He's still alive, and still fighting. He's going to get through this. I know he will."

She nodded. "I just want him to be OK."

"And he will be," I said assuredly.

Edward was put into a medically induced coma while undergoing the intense radiation, and he remained there for the following week while his body was introduced to the new cells.

Because there weren't very many women currently in the labor and delivery ward, Charlize and I were allowed to stay in one of the rooms there, for which I was thankful. I couldn't imagine bringing our baby home to the Masen house without Edward. But not really leaving the hospital was tough as well, and far too reminiscent of my incarceration at KRO. However, like with everything else in life, the way you view something was all that really mattered, therefore I tried my hardest to stay focused on the real reason for us being there. Wherever Edward was, that's where Charlize and I belonged. Being so close to the Cullen's was also an added bonus to our current residence. Basically my entire family was in that hospital, and for that reason, I was happy to be there.

Blood tests were run on Edward almost daily, but for whatever reason, they were inconclusive.

"Shouldn't we at least know if his body is beginning to accept the new cells by now?" Kate asked one afternoon. We had all been waiting on pins and needles for any kind of sign Edward was coming back to us, but it was hard to tell.

"Everything looks well within his cells, but because we still aren't sure how his disease works entirely, we don't know if the transfusion was able to actually cure him," El explained. "And there's also the possibility of rejection. We won't know for sure until he wakes up."

"Its going to work," - was what I kept repeating anytime someone expressed even the slightest concern.

The days seemed to drag on, but eventually we did reach the end…Or would it be the new beginning? Two weeks after Edward was first sedated, it was time to wake him up….


	19. Out of Murky Water

**Chapter 19 - Out of Murky Water**

We all waited anxiously for the affects of the sedation to wear off so Edward could wake up. We knew it would take awhile, but we were all too anxious to leave his side. When he finally began to stir, everyone froze. It was so quiet that the only sound we could hear was the hum of the machines, and Edward's heavy breathing.

I sat by his head and caressed his face, hoping he'd respond to my touch.

"Edward, can you hear me?" I murmured, but my words seemed loud compared to the silence in the room.

He slowly opened his eyes, and then looked directly at me. I knew he was seeing me, but I wasn't sure if it was any different than before the procedure.

"Hi babe," I said with a smile. "How are you feeling?" I asked, though I knew he probably couldn't answer. Even if fully cured, it would be a while before the muscles in his face and body strengthened enough for him to talk normally or walk. With the Cullens, they were being brought in and out of their disease at a pace where their muscles didn't have a chance to deteriorate as much, and they had grown accustomed to the rapid changes in their system. But Edward had been in his diseased state for months, and his illness was far more aggressive, as was his treatment, so I knew it would take longer for him.

He breathed out heavily, and when he did so, it almost sounded like he was trying to say something. Then his mouth started moving, and I knew for a fact that he was trying to talk. My heart jumped, and I leaned in closer to try to hear him. I was focused on him, but out of the corner of my eye, I could see everyone else lean in as well, trying to hear his first words if he was really going to attempt to talk.

"Ca-caa….." he mumbled, and I automatically started crying. I didn't know what he was trying to say, but he was saying something, which was certainly more than he was able to do before, and far more than I expected so soon. The muscles in his face were twitching as he tried to use them, so we all just waited while he tried again. "Ca-caa-cann... I …tttou-ch… yuur-boo… booob?"

The words were slurred together, and he said it so quietly that I wasn't sure if I heard him right, but then he forced out the smallest hint of a smirk, and my tears turned into hysterics as I cried and laughed simultaneously.

Everyone else was stunned, but not me; Edward always did love my breasts. I didn't care that the room was full of our family; I picked up his hand, and placed it on my boob just like he asked. He smirked again, and then there wasn't a dry eye in the room. Everyone was crying, even the nurse, whom we had only met the hour before, was getting watery eyed.

"I love you so much," I told him as I peppered kisses all over his face. We did it! We found a way to bring him back, and even more astonishing was the fact that he had held on and survived long enough for us to do so. We had fought the battle of our lives, and we won. It was nothing short of a miracle. A beautiful, wonderful, amazing, miracle.

After a minute or so, I took Edward's hand from my boob and placed it back on the bed, but kept my fingers intertwined with his, and I was overcome with even more tears when he actually squeezed my hand and was able to subtly stroke my palm with his thumb. Even those seemingly insignificant movements were monumental in that extraordinary moment.

Dr. El apologetically had to interrupt our long awaited reunion, so he could take his vitals and run more tests, but Edward only squeezed my hand harder. He didn't want me going anywhere, so, of course, I didn't.

"Edward? I'm not sure how much you remember or understood before, so I'd like to introduce myself. I'm Doctor Eleazar. I've been your doctor for quite some time."

Edward subtly nodded.

"He remembers you," I spoke for him, knowing him so well that I didn't need to actually hear his words to know what he wanted to say.

El grinned. "Excellent! Can you tell us if you're uncomfortable or in any pain?"

Edward stared at him for a minute, and then, ever so slightly, he shook his head.

"He wouldn't tell us even if he was in pain," I told El, which prompted a sweet little look of annoyance from Edward.

"Shouldn't you give him some pain medication just in case?" Liza asked while attempting to contain the tears that continued to pour down her face.

Edward shook his head again, but this time more forcefully, and I completely understood why. He had been locked within the prison of his own body for so long, the last thing he wanted was to be numbed from any narcotics. If there was pain, he wanted to feel it. He wanted to feel everything. It was something Emmett had said once when he was brought back into awareness, and I knew without a doubt Edward felt the same.

"He's OK. He doesn't need any pain meds," I told El.

"OK, well if you don't mind, I need to do a quick examination and take a little more blood, and then I'll be out of your way," El told him.

I couldn't help but giggle by the hint of bitterness on Edward's face as he grudgingly had to endure his examination. "You're almost done," I told him with loving encouragement. "And before you know it, you'll be in Dr. El's position, examining the Cullen's as they come out of their diseases too."

"All doctors hate being patients," Garrett said from somewhere behind me, correctly assuming Edward's silent issue.

"Well, all his vitals are looking strong," El announced to everyone in the room. "And his reflexes are working well… Good pupil dilation. Edward, please try to follow my finger with your eyes," he said while moving his index finger in front of him. "Perfect! Everything looks simply amazing."

"Does that mean he's really cured?" Liza asked anxiously.

"It means he made it through the radiation and transfusion, and he is alert and responding well," El said reservedly. "We need to wait for this blood work to come back before I can say anymore for certain. But…" He made eye contact with me, and I smiled. "I've definitely never witnessed a Lytchenstein Kolff patient even attempt to communicate before, and his eye focus and control to this degree is new to me, so I'd say we have ourselves a bona-fide miracle."

I nodded in agreement. "It certainly is that."

"Hhoo," Edward mumbled so we all quieted to hear what he was trying to say. "Hh-hhoow… lll - llonng?"

"How long?" I asked, unsure if I was understanding him correctly.

He nodded slightly. "Bbb-ff… bee-ff."

"Before?" I questioned again, and again he nodded. "How long before what, babe?" I asked him gently.

"Bee-frrr… en… enzz…" He clinched his lips in frustration as the words kept getting caught on his tongue.

"Its OK, babe. You're doing so well," I tried encouraging him.

"Take your time," El added supportively.

"Hoow… lloong beeefrr… enzz-enzz-iam… whaa..wears-ss… oofff?"

"How long before the enzyme wears off?" I understood. He nodded, clearly not grasping the huge ordeal his body just went under. "No enzyme. We weren't able to figure out how to make it."

Confusion glazed over his eyes. "Hhhow… How I'm m.. Bet..better?"

I brought his hand to my lips, and kissed his knuckle, before explaining the entire thing to him. I knew his mind was still having a difficult time fully understanding at normal speed, so I spoke slowly, and as the story unfolded of his second chance at life, he only wanted to know one thing…

"Baab… o..ookaay?"

I smiled at him adoringly. Charlize being healthy was one of the highlights of the story I was telling him, but he wanted it reaffirmed. "Yes. Our daughter is perfect. She is with Kate at the Masen's house."

"And you'll get to see her as soon as you've rested," El told him. "Anymore excitement right now and you might get over-exhausted and make yourself sick."

"She'll be here soon," I assured him. "Dr. El is right. You look drained out. You need your strength in order to heal. Rest now. I'll still be here when you wake up."

It was obvious that he didn't want to close his eyes again after he had been out of it for so long, but even in that short amount of time, and even only speaking a small amount of words, his muscles had worked harder than someone training for a marathon. He needed to sleep, and after a minute or two protest, he quickly succumbed.

"Please, everyone," El said, gesturing for the door. "He doesn't need a vigil while he sleeps. He will be fine until you all return later."

Tony, Renee, and Garrett left without an issue, but Liza and I didn't move.

"I cant leave him," Liza said, almost in a panic.

"Don't forget, Liza, he's not a baby anymore," he reminded her. "He may prefer his space for the time being."

She sighed, and then nodded before reluctantly leaving. Then El turned to me.

"Nope. I'm not going," I told him quietly but unwavering before he could even say a word. "I promised him I'd be here when he wakes up."

"I wouldn't ask you to leave, but I do need to speak to you for a few minutes. It would be best to at least go out into the hall so we don't disturb him."

"Ok, sure," I said hesitantly, then followed him out of the room. "What's up?"

"We've been studying your placenta, along with what's left of the cord blood, and we've come up with some interesting theories."

"Ok, shoot."

"Well, as you know, Charlize has no sign of the disease, and her blood work came back as a normal healthy infant. The placenta, however, is full of the disease."

"Really?" I said surprised. "But wouldn't the umbilical cord have it too then? How were you able to retrieve viable stem cells if the cord blood was diseased?" I asked, unsure how it all worked.

"Well, the cord acts as a filter, so we think it actually filtered out the disease, in a sense. The stem cells were healthy despite the placenta. But there's more… We kept some of your daughter's stem cells so we can do some further studying, and we found something else."

"Okay?" I said, concerned as to why he paused.

"I didn't want to alarm you before we knew if Edward would respond to the treatment, but the cells were... abnormal."

My stomach dropped. "Dr. El, I'm about to lose my mind here. Can you just come out and tell me what you found?"

"Well, I would if I knew for sure. Its something I've never seen before, but if I had to guess, based on everything you told me about the experiments conducted on Edward at KRO, I'd say it was that magical enzyme."

"What-ah-huh?" I asked dumbfounded. "The enzyme was in my daughter's stem cells?"

He shrugged. "It appears so. My theory is it built up in Edward for so long that it was even infused into his reproductive system. Charlize being female really shouldn't have made a difference to the disease. She should be sick, and quite frankly, a stem cell transfusion alone shouldn't have cured this disease in Edward either. Had the baby not been conceived with the enzyme in Edward's system, she would have had it. And had that enzyme not been present in her stem cells, the disease in Edward would not have been eradicated."

"So..." I swallowed roughly. "So, he's not cured then? He's going to relapse when the enzyme wears off?" I asked, feeling like I was about to dive bomb from outer space.

"Again, its all just a theory since a case like this is unprecedented, but I honestly don't think so. I believe through the placenta and umbilical cord, the enzyme infused with the cells permanently. Neither of their bodies will break down the enzyme because its no longer a foreign entity."

"So… that's good, right? I mean, you think he's been cured then, right?" I asked, wondering why he almost sounded upset by it.

He nodded with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to alarm you. Yes, I believe your daughter and her father will live full lives, safe from this disease,"

I let out a sigh of relief and pressed my hand to my heart. "Dr. El, don't scare me like that."

"I'm sorry," he apologized again.

"So, what's wrong then? Why don't you seem happy?"

"Oh, my dear, I'm ecstatic for you and the Masen's. Its truly remarkable."

"But?" I pressed, knowing there was definitely a 'but'.

He sighed. "But, as a scientist and a doctor searching for a cure for a rare disease, I'm sorry to say, we still haven't found one here."

"I don't understand. What does that mean?"

"It means we're no closer to finding a cure for Lytchenstein Kolff Disease. Everything had to happen exactly the way it did, in order for it to even possibly work again. The stem cells have to be closely related to the patient genetically, and for these particular patients, that's not something that usually occurs. None, besides Edward, lived long enough to reproduce, and usually the parents of the children with the disease don't have any more children because of the likelihood of the second child being afflicted with it as well. And most importantly, that enzyme needed to be built up in the cells as well. This truly was a one of a kind case. It took a series of impossible events to make his cure possible."

"So, without KRO and Carlisle, Edward would have never been cured?" I said, slightly bitter. I hated admitting that their role was vital, even if I always knew it was.

Helping Edward was the single most important thing to me, but after that, I had really hoped we'd be able to help others with our findings. Even though that wasn't the case, however, with Edward getting better, we would just have to start over from the beginning, and we'd do it together. It was Edward's life mission before leaving KRO, and it would continue to be our life's work to try to help other families with diseases afflicting their loved ones.

Dr. El had more work to do and other patients to see, so I thanked him for all he had done and he was on his way. And just as I was about to turn to go back into Edward's room, Kate rounded the corner holding my sleeping baby in her arms.

"Hey, how did she do?" I asked Kate with a loving grin as I took my daughter from her. I was rarely away from her in the two weeks since her birth, so I was more than a little eager to get her back.

"Perfectly, like the little angel she is," Kate said adoringly. "I have a serious case of baby fever now."

"Now?" I said with a laugh.

"Ok, I wanted one before babysitting today, but she definitely made it worse. She's so beautiful."

"Yes, she is," I agreed. "Thanks for watching her."

"My pleasure. And Garrett told me the good news. Looks like we got another miracle with Edward's cure, huh?"

"I'm telling you, Kate, I can't believe its real. We're just so lucky."

"No, sweetheart, you're blessed. This has gone far beyond luck."

"Well, that's for sure," I had to agree. I had struggled with faith most of my life - having a science oriented mind made religion of any kind a tough pill to swallow, but like El had previously said, there were some things even science couldn't explain. I suppose that's where miracles came from. You couldn't witness more than one miracle and still claim to not have faith. The two went hand in hand, and I would never hesitate to pray again, just as I would continue to do for the other members of my family waiting for miracles of their own.

Kate left for the day, so I took Charlize inside Edward's room for the remainder of her nap. It wouldn't be long until she needed to nurse anyway, so I made myself as comfortable as possible in the extremely uncomfortable chair next to Edward's bed, and just watched her and her daddy as they both slept. It was an amazing feeling having the two most important people in my life, sleeping safely and healthily right in front of me.

A little while later, Charlize woke up and started crying. I tried to quiet her before she woke up Edward, but it was too late. Edward opened his eyes, and looked over at us. "My girls," he cooed.

I smiled at him with more love than I ever experienced before. "She's been waiting for you," I murmured. I moved her so he could see her better, and the immeasurable, irrevocable love I felt for our daughter, was mirrored in his eyes as well.

"Soo bee-beauti-ful… Just like hhher mm-om," he said hoarsely.

I laughed once. "Are you kidding? Even my own mother said she looks more like Liza than me."

He shook his head slightly. "She's perr-fect like y-y ou."

"Well, here." I took off the blanket that was wrapped around her, and pulled down the blanket that was covering Edward. I laid her on him so they were chest to chest, and then I snuggled in to his side and pulled the blanket back up so it was covering all three of us. I rested my head on his shoulder, and my hand on Charlize's back, and we just basked in the amazingly incredible feeling of being all together; really and truly complete for the first time. We were blessed with more miracles than anyone ever deserved, and we were so incredibly grateful for the gift that was our family.

The three of us must have fallen asleep together, because when I peeked my eyes open, the light out the window had darkened, and Liza was anxiously pacing outside the door. I realized that it was around the time that we usually fed Edward, and we actually missed lunch, so obviously Liza's mothering instincts were coming into play. She had yet to be able to really talk to her son, and have the possibility of him talking back, so I knew she was aching for that meeting as well. She had given me the day to reconnect with him first, and I was beyond appreciative of those precious moments, but she was right, he was probably starving, and I was sure Charlize needed to eat as well.

"Edward," I whispered, trying to see if he'd wake easily. His feeding tube was still in since his muscles were extremely weak, so I decided to put Charlize in her basinet and then just give Edward his supplement while he slept.

We could have left his feedings to the hospital nurses, but we tried to make his stay there as much like home as possible, hoping it would make the transition as easy as it could be. On that wonderful day, however, everything was different, so it was easy to get off track. I didn't like that I had missed his feeding, but in light of the miracle of his cure, I knew that long awaited family cuddle time was probably just as important.

"Has he said anything else?" Liza asked quietly as I started administering the supplement.

"He's really tired, but he said Charlize is beautiful," I told her.

She nodded with a smile. "Well, she is."

"I'm sorry you didn't get a chance to talk to him," I told her sympathetically.

"I'm sure Tony and I will get our chance…. Does he remember everything from before? He probably hates me for kicking you out and keeping you away from him," she said remorsefully.

"He didn't mention anything about that, but he could never hate you. He hasn't been able to say much at all. He's just been so tired. I'm sure he remembers some things, but we won't know what for certain until he can talk more."

"Well, he definitely remembered the 'groping' incident. It was the first thing he said when he woke up," she said while shaking her head. "I still can't believe how I reacted when I walked in on that before."

I shrugged. "Maybe he didn't remember that, maybe he just wanted to touch my breasts. Edward is like a teenager when it comes to that," I said jokingly, but completely serious.

"I put you on the street right before you gave birth to my granddaughter," she said with tears running down her cheeks again. I had a feeling she was going to continue to apologize for that until Charlize was grown with kids of her own.

"It's over now, and I can almost guarantee Edward doesn't want to dwell on it either. Everything is fine now, I'm sure he just wants to concentrate on getting stronger.

She nodded and wiped her tears.

"Hey," I said after noticing that Edward had awoken after all. He was silently listening to our conversation, just as he had been doing for months. I was almost done administering his supplement, but when I glanced down at him he had the most disgusted look on his face. "What?" I asked amused by his expression.

"I hhhate that th-thing," he croaked.

"Well, as soon as your jaw muscles get their strength back, we'll take it out and you can eat on your own."

Edward squeezed his eyebrows together, and then opened and closed his mouth repeatedly.

"What? What's wrong?" Liza asked in a panic.

Edward looked at her confused, and I just smiled. "Nothing is wrong. Edward is just being stubborn and showing me that he can move his mouth," I said teasingly.

"No… I'm- ex-er-cising," he argued. Every time Edward spoke in Liza's presence, I noticed that she'd stop breathing. At first I wasn't sure why she did it, but then I realized that she didn't want to miss a single syllable. Him talking was something completely new to her, and she didn't even want something as quiet as her own breath, muffling it.

As much as Liza ached to have Edward speak to her directly, he didn't, and she didn't speak to him either. It was awkward, but Edward didn't really speak to anyone besides me for those first few days. It took a lot out of him to talk, and he didn't seem to want to waste his energy on anyone else.

...

Every day Edward grew stronger, and his facial muscles began tightening back up. He was looking more and more like himself again, which I certainly wasn't complaining about. He started doing physical therapy three hours a day, and his determination catapulted him into healing much more quickly than any of us thought possible. His speech had improved drastically since he woke up as well, but it still slurred on some letters, and he rarely spoke louder than a strong whisper.

But even with his strength returning, he still didn't seem to want to talk to anyone but me, so I was always with him when he did his therapy sessions, and basically he'd tell me when there was something he wanted to say, and I'd relay it to his therapist and doctors. But I didn't mind, I was actually having some separation anxiety from him as well. We were becoming way too codependent on each other, and it couldn't possibly be really healthy… not that either of us cared at that point.

….

Another two weeks passed, and Edward was doing so well with his therapy sessions, that I decided it was finally time for me to go to work for a little while instead of his session. I still needed to find a new place to buy so we could build our own lab and concentrate on making the Cullens better. The hospital lab was much too small, and with all the hospital patient's tests being run there, it was just too crowded. But the separation, even for a very short time, was surely going to be difficult for the both of us…

"How long are you going to be gone for?" Edward asked me full of anxiety. I knew exactly how he felt, I didn't want to leave him, but I couldn't keep putting it all off, and the Cullen's were counting on us. It was time to concentrate on them again.

"Just a couple of hours," I assured him while choking back my emotions. Just a couple hours wasn't really a big deal, but for us it was like being gone for days or even weeks.

"Are you sure you should go? Carlisle is still out there somewhere and…"

"I'm not going to be alone," I told him, trying to get him to stop worrying. "Garrett and Kate are coming with me, and my mom will be watching Charlize at the Masen house with Benjamin there for protection.

"Where's Liza going to be?" he asked confused, knowing she was usually the one who babysat when needed.

"She's going to be here with you," I said with a smile.

"Uh…" he said uncomfortably, but then Liza walked into the room so he stopped talking.

I knew he wasn't angry with her, but it was strained because he just didn't know what to say or how to act. He had only every really associated with the people at KRO and a few others like Garrett over the years, so Edward was definitely introverted. Most scientists actually were very closed off, especially the ones who spent most of their time in the lab, so his unease with 'normal' people wasn't entirely unique. All he really knew of his mom was of her being a care giver, and he was done needing her care. He didn't know her as a person yet, and neither of them knew where to start.

"Everything will be fine," I told him too low for Liza to hear. "Just look on the bright side, at least you don't have the feeding tube anymore."

Edward had told me after we finally removed the tube that the worst part of the whole thing was when my mom or Liza would be the ones doing his supplements and cleanings. He said it felt degrading, and embarrassing. Of course he hated me doing it too, but he said that at least I knew him when he was better and knew first hand that he wasn't a child.

Liza looked just as nervous as Edward did, but I gave her a reassuring smile, and then mouthed 'thanks', before kissing Edward quickly and then heading out.

"So, I've already got a few places lined up for us to check out," Kate said as she, Garrett, and I got in the car to go look for potential lab sites.

"Cool. The sooner we can get to work, the better," I said. I felt bad that they were taking so much time away from their own work, but they kept assuring me that they had people covering for them, and they cared about the Cullens, and wanted to help any way they could.

We found three really good buildings which could easily be converted into a lab, but I didn't want to waste anymore time, so we weighed the pros and cons of each, and then bought the best one.

"I'll call all the supply carriers and order everything we need," Garrett offered.

"Thanks guys, for everything. I don't know how I would have done all this without you," I told them honestly.

"Well, we're not KRO, we fully expect some individual recognition for any findings we make together," Garrett joked.

"You got it," I said seriously.

We finished all the paperwork with the realtor, and then I hurried back to the hospital to be with Edward.

Technically, Edward should have been released from the hospital and seen as an outpatient by then, but he kept making excuses as to why he didn't want to leave. However, I knew the truth; Edward was more comfortable in a hospital than he was in a house setting with the family he felt awkward around. I offered to look for a cheap apartment to rent for us, but I still didn't have my identity back completely just yet, so renting a place wasn't really possible. Charlize and I were still staying in his hospital room with him, but we knew it was time to move out, whether he was emotionality ready or not.

When I got back to the room, I was expecting to see him lying in the bed, or sitting in his wheelchair watching TV or reading, but he wasn't; he and Liza were surprisingly sitting and playing some sort of card game… and actually giggling. I didn't want to interrupt them, so I stayed quiet and just watched from the doorway for a minute.

"You cheated!" Liza accused him.

"No way. It's not my fault you don't know how to count to twenty one," Edward defended himself playfully.

"Ok, I see I'm going to have to stay on my toes with you," she said with a smile. Liza always loved her son with a fierceness, but it was strictly a mother and child bond because they had that wall of awkward uncertainty between them. But as she looked at him while playing, I could see a new love and appreciation for him. She was getting to know him as a person, and once Edward allowed someone to do that, it was impossible not to love him.

"Bella, hi," Liza said as she looked up and noticed me standing there.

"Hey, how'd it go?" I asked Edward, and then walked into the room to kiss his hair. He lifted his arm heavily, and wrapped it around my waist. He was much stronger than before, but simple things like lifting his arm any higher than his stomach was still tiring for him.

"Like always," he said nonchalantly. "So, you haven't picked up Charlize yet," he concluded by the fact that I wasn't holding her.

"No… I wanted to see how you were doing first."

"Maybe… maybe we should go back there for the night," he said sounding unsure.

"Oh, everything is all ready for you guys. We even removed all the hospital stuff from your bedroom," Liza said excitedly.

"I think it's a good idea. As long as you're comfortable with it," I told him.

"It's time. Charlize is getting bigger, and she shouldn't still be sleeping in that little hospital bassinet."

"I agree," I said with a smile, and when he turned his head, I winked at Liza. I had given her some pointers for her one on one time with Edward, and it looked as though they worked. He wasn't completely comfortable yet, but he was definitely heading in that direction.

….

Sleeping in the Masen house with Edward being more 'alert', was definitely different. He was becoming more active, so the fact that we were alone in a real room made his hands more animated as well.

I kissed him goodnight like every other night, but after settling in with my head on his shoulder, I suddenly felt his hand between my legs. It only took half a second for his other hand to find its way to my breast, but for the first time since we left Florida, it was under my shirt on my bare skin. Both hands began rubbing in the particular region which they were stationed in, and I quickly caught up to his mood.

"This is your parent's house," I whispered prudishly. I felt like we were teenagers sneaking in gropings when our parents weren't looking.

"They're on the other side of the house," he muttered as he started kissing my neck.

"But, it's still weird," I said, even if my body didn't agree with me. My hips began rocking against his hand without my permission. It had been so long, and we had been through so much that I wanted him immensely, but my brain wouldn't shut up.

"Bella, we're adults, and currently living here. Our daughter is in the next room, sound asleep just like everyone else in the house. If we're going to be here for awhile, then this is going to happen," he said convincingly.

"You're right," I said, and then desperately began pushing his pants down. I didn't even care about foreplay at that moment. I needed him inside me so badly that it almost hurt the longer he wasn't.

He reached for the hem of my shirt to pull it off, but I wasn't going to allow it. I grabbed that hand and pushed it over his head, and before he could protest that move I climbed over him and straddled his waist so I could stay in control and do all the work. I tried to be gentle, knowing he was still weak, but before I knew it, my rocking became more like pounding as the intensity of our physical love took complete control of us. I couldn't slow down, and he didn't seem to want me to either as he gripped my hips and used what strength he had to help with my movements. Neither of us was going to relent until we found our long awaited - much needed - release.

Afterwards, I leaned over so I was lying on top of him, because I just wasn't ready to be any further away than that. "Am I too heavy for you?" I asked him while breathing heavy.

"If you were, I'd never tell you," he said with a smirk in his voice.

"Why, because you love me, or you just don't want me to move?"

He chuckled softly. "Both," he said while lightly grazing his hand up and down my back under my shirt.

"Mmm, that feels good," I told him.

"Your skin is what feels good," he said, but then he pretended to get his hand caught in the fabric. "What is going on here? Why do you still have this on?"

"Are you in any pain?" I asked him concerned as we both tried to steady our breathing after coming off of that amazing high.

He laughed once. "Don't change the subject. Do you know how long its been since I've seen your breasts? Take off your damn shirt!" he said playfully.

"No," I said, pushing his hand away when he tried to go for the hem again.

He pushed himself up on his elbow, and stared at me questionably.

"What?" I giggled. "Don't look at me like that."

"If you're worried about me getting too excited then don't. I'd rather waste all my remaining energy for the day then miss out on your perfect boobs," he said, trying extremely hard to be serious, but really, his pout was just simply adorable and I couldn't help but reach over and stroke his beautiful face.

"I'm not worried about you anymore," I told him softly. "You've done so amazing."

"What's wrong then?" he asked confused, but then something seemed to occur to him. "God, Bella, I'm an idiot!"

"What? Why?" I said, sure he must have come to a erroneous conclusion.

"I'm just really sorry. I wasn't thinking that you were probably still sore from having the baby. I should have.."

I put my finger on his lips to stop him from speaking. "I'm not sore. I feel great, I promise."

"OK, so what's going on then?"

"Nothing," I lied. Of course, he knew I was lying, so he raised one of his perfect brows challengingly. "Well, nothing really," I huffed. "I'm just not…. as fit as I was before," I finally admitted. "I have stretch marks, and my skin isn't as tight, and…" I let my words trail off due to the goofy expression he was giving me. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You have stretch marks?" he asked, almost sounding strangely excited. "Now I really want to see you without your shirt on!"

"Ew, no! And its not funny," I pouted.

"Babe, come on. You're joking, right? I mean, I think your sudden shyness is cute and all, but you're not really embarrassed about your post baby body, are you?"

I laughed once. "Why does that surprise you? You're like some Greek god, and I look like a deflated balloon. Its gross."

"A Greek god?" he scoffed. "Bella, I just spent months basically completely incapacitated. I have hardly any muscle strength left. My body currently looks like a skinny prepubescent boy going through an emo phase…"

I shook my head. "No you don't. You're beautiful," I tried arguing, but he wouldn't have it.

"You've seen me helpless, and drooling, and shitting myself, and here you are, worried I'm not going to be attracted to you just because you have some lose skin and a few extra lines after giving birth to my baby?" he asked, clearly at a loss. "I mean, seriously, Babe, if anyone should be bashful or worried, its me."

"I don't ever want you to feel that way," I told him strongly. "You have absolutely nothing to be worried about. I could never love you any less or want you any less than I always have," I said with conviction, hating the idea of him ever having any type of negative feelings about himself.

He smirked at me, and then I realized how dumb I had been. "Ok, I guess I see your point," I said reluctantly. "But I know how sexual attraction is different for guys," I tried reasoning, but his smile just grew until we were both laughing by my ridiculousness.

When our laughing slowed, Edward pressed his lips back to mine, and once again, our passion took back over. He traced his hands up my leg and around to my inner thigh. He continued to bring his finger tips upwards as he grazed passed my center, and continued on to my public region before pausing at my waistline.

"The last thing I'd ever want to do is make you uncomfortable," he murmured. "If you don't want me to touch you, I won't."

Suddenly the idea of him not touching me in that area was almost unimaginable. He was right, we had been through far too much to ever waste another moment on body image issues when we could have lost the ability to touch each other altogether. I honestly didn't care what he looked like, so I had to trust him to feel the same about me.

"I love you," I told him tenderly. "And I want you to touch me."

He tried but failed to conceal his excitement with a sly grin. "Are you sure?"

I nodded. "I'm sure about you. And I'm sure there's no part of you I don't want to see and touch… and there's no part of me I want to hide from you either."

He gently cradled my face in his hands, and kissed me softly. "You are the single most amazing person I have ever known. You saved me… in every way some can be saved. I wouldn't even want to exist without you. There is nothing that could ever change how much I love you and want you."

I nodded again, except this time I took his hand off my face and brought it back down to where it was on the waist of my skin. I slowly guided his hand up under my shirt, letting it caress my wrinkled, still flabby stomach, and then I left his hand there to take over his own exploring.

If he hadn't been so perfect, I probably would have forced myself to not care about the current shape of my body, but even in his weakened state, and even after everything we had been through, I still thought he was the most beautiful man I had ever seen, and it certainly made me a little self conscious. How could a man like that ever be satisfied with plain imperfect me? But as his hand continued to caress my abdomen, another wave of desire rushed over me, and I suddenly forgot everything I was worried about.

Why the hell was I still wearing a shirt?

I reached for the bottom of my shirt and couldn't rip it off fast enough.

He brought his mouth down to the skin on my breasts and let out the most sexy moan I had ever heard. It was like hearing someone have their favorite dessert after a long running diet, and it sent my desires into overdrive.

Inhabitations ceased to exist, and I was back to feeling like the most beautiful creature on the planet, because that was how he truly looked at me.

Without hesitation, I climbed back over him and welcomed his body back into mine. I could never properly put into words how good it felt to be fully connected to him again. We were made to fit together in that way, and I knew I'd never lose confidence in that manner again.

He was mine, and I was his - Our lives and our bodies would constantly be changing for the remainder of our lives, but that fact never would.

Edward grabbed a hold of my hips as the moved over him, and then he surprised me by somehow managing to muster enough strength to pull himself up so he could kiss me. His lips were eager to touch every part of my skin they could reach from that position. It had to be the most amazing feeling I had ever experienced, and I couldn't help but cry out as a response.

"Happy tears, right?" he huffed.

Neither of us stopped, or even paused our movements.

"Yes. Very happy," I murmured as we continued on to the most amazing climax I never even imagine could be possible.

When the beautiful intensity of our high began to relax into an incredible afterglow, we reclined back and rested in each other's arms right where we belonged. He began lightly grazing his fingertips up and down my now bare spine, which made me tremble in the best possible way.

"If you never stopped doing that I'd be perfectly OK." I mumbled into the skin on his neck.

"He chuckled lightly. "It may make everyday tasks a little difficult."

"That's OK, I'm sure we can manage."

He laughed again silently through his nose, and then changed the direction of his caresses - which basically felt even better.

We were quiet for awhile, and eventually he did stop rubbing my back, so I thought he had fallen asleep. But then he sighed, and kissed the top of my head. "I love you so much," he whispered.

I smiled. "I love you too."

"You know, I would have been completely lost without you, and I'm not just talking about the disease. I really never knew what living was before you. You gave me absolutely everything, Bella, and I don't know how I can possibly ever thank you enough," he said passionately.

"I don't want you to thank me; I just want you to love me."

"Well, that will never change," he said assuredly.

"I know," I said securely in return.

…..

Over the next few weeks, Edward started walking again, thus restoring his independence - physically anyway. He didn't need help with anything anymore, but we still tried to be together as much as possible. He was finally confident in his strength enough to carry Charlize around when he was walking, so he hardly ever put her down. He took her everywhere, and was constantly humming and singing to her, just as his mother had always done to him. It was incredibly sweet.

Seeing them together was absolutely the highlight of my life. He adored her, and just like when he couldn't speak, I knew she adored him too, it was in her eyes; her cool blue eyes that were the exact shade his were before the medication had turned them green. She was the most calm when she was with him, and never fussed when in his arms.

As soon as Edward felt he was well enough to work with a clear mind, and had enough control over his body where he wouldn't break everything in the lab, he wanted to get back to work. We both hated leaving our baby girl, but our other family was counting on us getting them better as well. Kate and Garrett had set up the lab beautifully, and we were able to start researching right away.

It wasn't long until Edward went from walking to full on running. We started jogging every morning, but I'd end up tiring and waiting with Charlize at a park after a couple miles. Edward would continue to run even harder until he felt like he got a good enough workout for the day. And he took off in the labs too. It was amazing seeing him back in full work mode; he was as brilliant as ever, and his determination was even stronger than before.

We continued to visit the Cullens every day, and Edward seemed to enjoy the time we all spent on the roof together just like before, though the hospital roof was nowhere near as pretty as the one he had made on the Special Unit building at KRO. But it was private, and a place where the Cullens could get fresh air and watch the sky.

"We can't let this go on much longer," Edward said while sitting up there with the Cullens one day. He was watching Jasper intently and contemplating their lives. "I know how they're feeling; we have to figure out how to save them from the black-hole they're in."

"Is that really how it feels?" I asked full of heartache.

He nodded absently, and then swallowed hard. "I could hear you, and see, but it was like doing it from under murky water. You know that point when you're holding your breath, and it's almost too long so you start getting dizzy and confused? … It's like that. Fighting to try to stay focused, or even remember the simplest thing. Constantly working just to do the smallest task like moving, or even understanding. Its like being in a dream that doesn't make sense, but you have to accept it because that's where you're stuck. Its torture. We need to get them out of their prisons and give them their lives back."

I kissed his shoulder. "We will. You did it before, I know you can do it again."

"Its just so complex… and without my notes and formulas.." He shook his head.

"You'll figure it out," I reassured him. "We will do it together."

He looked at me and nodded. "I really do feel like I can do anything with you by my side."

I smiled and snuggled into him even closer. "You can."


	20. The Price of Cures

**Chapter 20 – The Price of Cures**

"Garrett, have you tried mixing compound 15 with the 32nd?" Edward asked as he was hard at work in the lab.

"No, but I will now," Garrett responded.

Edward was getting extremely frustrated with a lack of progress on the Cullen cases. He was the one who made the enzymes that helped them in the first place, but recreating them without the formulas was very difficult.

"Chica, maybe if you wet it we can actually put her hair in a ponytail," Carmen suggested.

"Uh, maybe," I said not really wanting to try it.

Carmen and I were sitting with Charlize, and trying to convince her to crawl. She just turned six months old and was babbling all the time, but seemed perfectly content being carried everywhere. I blamed Edward for that. Usually Liza or my mother watched her at the house, but they both just happened to be busy that day, so instead of missing a full day in lab I decided to just bring her with us.

"Or maybe pigtails, no?" Carmen asked while playing with Charlize's dark curls.

Carmen had been working with us for three months. She just showed up one day and asked if she could help. She explained that she had continued to work at KRO after we left, but had no idea what happened to us. Apparently, Aro had been extremely agitated and paranoid in our absence, and Carlisle never returned there. Then she told us that one day Aro announced that they were shutting down and everyone needed to leave immediately. So she googled my name and up popped my home address in Phoenix, which terrified the shit out of me.

I had worked for months to get my name back legally and to be declared living again, but what resulted was my location available for anyone to look up, which could have been dangerous. I was currently working on trying to get that information to become private, but with the internet the way it was, it was hard to keep anything private anymore.

"I just don't see the point in researching that compound. We already tried it thirty times," Dr. Amun said dryly. Although I was happy when Carmen came to work with us, I was ecstatic when Dr. Amun showed up a few weeks later. The man had no sense of humor whatsoever, but he was absolutely brilliant, and we were lucky to have him on our team. I understood why he came even more than Carmen - Dr. Amun was in his later years and had dedicated his life to science. With KRO closed down, he simply didn't know what to do with himself. But he still refused to call me Bella.

"This is how I did it before," Edward explained to Amun. "There's just something missing, and I can't figure it out."

I laid Charlize down for her nap in the travel crib, and then Carmen and I went back to work.

"So Carmen, are you going to go out on another date with Doctor El?" Kate asked her teasingly as we worked.

"Maybe," Carmen said coyly.

"This is why the lab should be a professional working environment only," Amun grumbled. "I don't want to hear about your love lives," he told Kate and Carmen, who just giggled as a response.

"I think we need to take a lunch break. I called a roach coach to come. They have tacos!" Garrett said excitedly, knowing the food truck had already arrived.

"Great, we can all get sick," Kate said under her breath as she followed her new husband out of the lab.

Everyone kept asking me and Edward when we were going to get married as well, but we'd always shrug and say we'd get around to it eventually. Edward becoming legally living again was still in process. It would take even longer than it did for me because he had been 'dead' longer, and before that he was a child with a terminal disease, so there were a lot more challenges for him. We wanted to get married and talked about it several times, but we wanted it to be legal, and truthfully, we wanted the Cullens there to see it.

Edward huffed, and then took off his gloves and headed for the door. "What do you want from the truck?" he asked me.

"Oh…" I said while scrunching my face. "Do they have a salad of some sort?"

"I'll go check," he said with his crooked smile. Two minutes later, he came back with an apologetic expression. "Sorry Babe, no salad. They pretty much only have food that's been deep fried. Why don't you come out to see what you want," he suggested.

I looked at Charlize, sound asleep, and figured that if she woke up I'd be able to hear her fine from right outside the opened door, so I went out to look at the truck menu.

"I am not eating this. Let's go grab a quick bite at the corner diner," Kate told Garrett.

"Honey, Tacos," he whined, not wanting to leave. Kate leaned into him and whispered something in his ear, which resulted in a huge grin across his face. "We're eating at that diner… and then going home for awhile," he said the last part quietly.

"I think I'm going to go buy a sandwich at the deli," Carmen said.

Amun looked over the food truck menu one more time, and then hurried to catch up with Carmen to get a sandwich.

"Uh…" Edward said uncomfortably while looking at the man in the truck. "I'll take five tacos," he said guiltily because everyone else left. "Bella?" he asked me while raising his brows and smirking.

I cringed subtly, but then sighed. "Um, I'll have the soup," I told the man, but then he discreetly shook his head as a silent warning not to buy the soup. If the guy who made it was warning me against it, then I sure as hell wasn't going to try it. "On second thought, two tacos please," I told him hesitantly.

Edward and I sat down on the bench outside the building, and reluctantly tried the tacos. "Hey, these aren't so bad," I said after finishing my first bite.

"Yeah, maybe Garrett wasn't so insane for wanting them," Edward agreed. "Sucks he's missing them."

"Oh, I don't think he'll care about missing them as soon as Kate gets him home. Whatever she promised him really seemed to make his day."

"I don't know. Sex is good, but… these are the best tacos I've ever had," Edward disagreed.

"Really?" I said with a seductive grin before kissing his neck in the spot that I knew drove him crazy.

"Now, that's not fair," he complained feebly.

I climbed on his lap and moved my kisses to his lips where our tongues automatically sought each other out. The taco Edward was eating fell to the ground carelessly so his hands could grip my thighs while I knotted my fingers in his hair. "Aren't you hungry?" I asked against his lips.

"For you? Always," he said, moving his hands up my body to his favorite spot, my breasts.

….But then Charlize started crying.

"We'll finish this later," I told him, and then kissed him one more time before moving off of him. He got up and cleaned up our trash, and following me back to the lab. But when we got inside, Charlize wasn't in her crib like she should have been.

My first thought was that Liza had arrived back early from her meeting and picked her up, but I quickly realized how wrong that assumption was, and then my heart leapt into my throat.

"You son of a bitch, put her down now!" Edward yelled at Carlisle, who was standing there holding our daughter in his arms.

"She was crying, and you two looked busy, so I just picked her up to console her," Carlisle said with a false caring tone.

I had never forgotten the very real threat that Edward's traitorous pseudo father could have been stalking us and planning to strike at any moment, but I suppose the extended amount of time that passed since he had last made contact had given me a false sense of security. Carmen and Amun had found us easy enough, so a part of me hoped Carlisle had decided to leave us alone after all. It was incredibly stupid. I should have never been so careless with Charlize, and now my baby girl was paying for my mistake. Just seeing her in that despicable man's arms made me sick.

I wasn't sure why Edward didn't just walk up to him and grab her, but I wasn't about to stand there and watch that man with my daughter for another moment. I moved forward, but then Edward caught me around my waist to stop me.

"Wait," he whispered.

"I wouldn't come any closer, Bella," Carlisle said to me - and that's when I noticed he was holding a syringe of some sort, and it was pointed right at my baby's neck.

"Oh, my god! What the hell are you doing?" I screamed terrified.

"I'm not going to hurt her, I just want you to listen to me," Carlisle said, ridiculously trying to calm me. What parent in their right mind could be calm with a lunatic threatening their child?

"We'll listen when you give us our baby back, or at the very least put down the needle!" I shouted.

Carlisle acted like I hadn't spoken at all, and turned his attention back to Edward. "I'm so relieved that you're ok, son. I really thought that you would have been back to your natural state by now, or worse. You didn't look so well when we last saw one another. Tell me, how did you manage to recreate the enzyme that keeps you functioning?"

"We didn't," Edward said bitterly.

"Edward is completely cured, but if you don't give us back our daughter, I'll make sure you are ten times more helpless than he ever was!" I warned him.

"So, you used the baby's stem cells then," Carlisle said knowingly, completely flabbergasting us.

"How the hell do you know that?" Edward asked.

"Of course I know that. I know everything. I've always known that could work in theory, which is why we pushed you and Heidi together," Carlisle replied strangely.

"What?" Edward asked, more confused than angry by that particular statement.

"Its time you finally know the truth. Heidi was a woman who I knew you were attracted to, so we paid her to seduce you. But then we discovered you were sterile and couldn't reproduce, so we didn't need her anymore. She got bitter because we weren't going to keep her on the pay role, and then things got nasty; she started selling our secrets and told you things that you didn't need to know. She was just a business deal gone sour, nothing more… I think you can understand that now," Carlisle said casually.

"If you wanted Heidi to produce Edward's child so badly, then why did you try to get me to have an abortion when I was pregnant?" I asked skeptically.

"Because it could have killed you - should have, in fact; I am still amazed the two of you are healthy. With Heidi it was different; we didn't care if the would be fetus killed her. She knew what she was getting herself into, and we generously compensated her for it. But Edward really loved you, and I wanted him to be happy." He turned back to Edward. "I wanted you to be happy, because you are my son and I love you."

Carlisle was clearly trying to confuse Edward and make him question everything, and with all the years they had together, I wasn't surprised when Edward looked like he wanted to believe him.

"Look, I know we didn't part well last time. We both said things we didn't mean. This is the perfect time for a fresh start. We've been forced to shut down the Volterra compound, but we're going to reopen in Switzerland," Carlisle continued gently, sounding a whole hell of a lot like the Carlisle we thought he was before. "Edward, you know I have the enzymes for the Cullens. You know I can make them better… Wake them from the prison of their bodies. Come with me, and we'll free them… together."

"They need to have a chance to live…. even if it's only periodically," Edward agreed quietly.

"Edward?" I said incredulously. I couldn't believe he was actually falling for Carlisle's bullshit, but I wasn't going to stand there and let it happen.

"Wait a minute," I said, thinking of something. "You wanted to keep Edward sick so he'd stay with you. That's why you never told him the truth about any of this before. Did you do the same with the Cullens?" I asked, not putting it past him. "I bet you've known how to keep them aware permanently, just as you knew the stem cells would cure Edward."

Edward looked back at Carlisle full of uncertainty, but then answered my question for him. "Carlisle wouldn't do that. There was no reason to tell me the truth about the stem cells before, because I was supposed to be sterile and it was a moot point, but surely he wouldn't keep the Cullens from living full lives if he had a way to make them better."

He was in complete denial, and it was more than infuriating, it was terrifying. If Carlisle could convince him of his lies so easily, what chance did we really have of truly getting our freedom?

"Edward, with everything that's happened, how can you put anything past him? He switched your pills, he threatened both my life and Charlize's. Look how he's holding her right now!" I tried getting through to him, but it was like Edward completely closed himself off from what was happening right in front of him.

"He would never hurt her… Like he said, he just wants us to listen…. Right?" he asked Carlisle.

"Of course I wouldn't. You're my son, and that makes this precious angel my granddaughter. I just want what's best, and what's best is for all of us to stay together. But I'm going to be completely honest with you, because I want to reestablish trust between us…."

"Reestablish trust?" I spat. "You have a needle full of - who knows what - pointed at our daughter. How is that 'reestablishing trust'?" I asked, insulted by his blatant lies.

"I have done a lot of things I'm not proud of, just as you have done," he said to Edward gently. "And like you, I did them for the greater good. We need you, Edward, and I'm desperate... that is the only reason I'm doing any of this."

"Tell me the truth then - no more secrets. You want me back, then tell me everything," Edward insisted.

Carlisle took in a deep breath. "You're right. Trust must be earned, so I'm here, trying to be honest. Yes, we know how to sustain the Cullens. I have it right here in this file," he said, while gesturing to the folder sitting on the counter. "In fact, you were the one who did it. We told you that you were wrong, and we removed the immunity blocker that would allow them to stay on the medication full time."

"Why?" Edward asked calmly.

"Aro thought it was best for them to continue to go in and out of awareness because it would keep you with us… and it was more cost effective. Once Bella became the most important person to you, he didn't need the Cullens to keep you in control anymore, so he stopped putting money into their medication. And for the record, we never had a real cure for you; yes, we knew genetically related stem cells might work, and I tried to get Bella to have an abortion anyway, but it was all just a theory at that point."

"If Aro thought it could cure me, but didn't want me cured, then why did he insist on Bella having the baby?" Edward then asked him.

"The baby was still a mystery, and we thought it would have the disease; the DNA tests said it would, and Aro wanted the chance to do testing on it. The baby was nothing more than a lab rat to him. He thought we could force you to stay regardless of your illness. But we argued over what to do with Bella after the infant was born. He thought it would be better to have her out of the way so we could be free to do the testing on the baby without her intervening. I wasn't going to let that happen. Aro might not care about human life, but Edward you know me, you know I care immensely."

"Which is why you threatened my life the last time you were with us, and you're threatening our daughter right now," I said mockingly.

"I was angry, and you were getting in the way," he said to me a little sharper than he had been speaking to Edward. "We already had a bad experience with Heidi, and I could see that happening again."

"You're insane," I told him doubtlessly.

"Look, our flight leaves for Switzerland soon, so we need to get to the airport," he said to Edward while trying to ignore me.

"We can't just pick up everything and leave. We have a team here, a family. We can't just disappear again," Edward told him.

"Then go home, and tell people that you're leaving so they won't be worried," Carlisle suggested.

Edward nodded absently.

"Edward!" I shouted at him.

"Bella, I know you don't want to go back into a situation like KRO, but this will be different. You won't be a prisoner. I won't let them do that to you again," Edward tried convincing me.

"And, how are you going to insure that?" I asked as angry tears threatened to break free from my ducts.

"You have my word, Miss Swan," Carlisle promised. "You will have an executive position in our new company, in fact, you'll be considered one of the founders. Unlimited access and in charge of your own division. All we want is your cooperation."

"My cooperation in letting you use people to experiment on? People like my daughter? Edward, you can't be ok with this?"

"Blood work. Nothing more," Carlisle tried assuring us.

Again, Edward nodded. "She's going to be fine, honey. They just want to run tests to see how her birth was even possible."

"How it was even possible?" I said incredulously. "We already know all there is to know about it. The enzyme infused in her cells from you. What more can Carlisle possibly figure out through blood work?"

"Edward passed the enzyme onto the fetus?" Carlisle asked in wonderment. So clearly he didn't know everything, because that was something he obviously never thought of.

Edward pressed his lips in contemplation. "Maybe I can find a way to secure all the findings Doctor Eleazar made from the research he did. They may even have some of the baby's stem cells left we can bring with us."

"I'd like to see if the enzyme can still be detected in the child currently as well," Carlisle added. "We can take some skin samples from her; perhaps one day a spinal tap. I'd really be interested to see if the enzyme is detectable in her spinal fluid."

I shook my head in complete and utter disgust. I couldn't believe someone could speak so casually about doing such a traumatic procedure on a child for experimentation purposes. Surely, that would knock some sense into Edward about what kind of monster Carlisle truly was… But then, once again, Edward nodded as if he was considering the same revolting thing Carlisle was.

I couldn't believe it, and I couldn't fight the tears anymore. My heart was absolutely breaking. I knew Edward had a drive for research, but I never thought he would ever consider using our daughter in that way. I was absolutely repulsed, and I would never allow it to happen.

"You will not take my daughter anywhere!" I said as strongly as I was capable of at that broken moment.

Everything had fallen apart, and it happened so quickly that I wasn't even sure how we got there.

"She just needs time. Once we get there, she'll understand," Edward said quietly to Carlisle.

"Edward, this could be an issue. We can't bring her if she's hysterical like this."

"She won't be. Bella, you need to calm down and think about this. You applied to KRO, you wanted to be a part of something, now this is your chance."

"Give me my baby!" I screamed.

But then Edward closed his eyes in what seemed like defeat, before slowly opening them again. He looked right at me, and in one of our timelessly brief silent conversations, I suddenly understood. It wasn't a look of defeat, it was a drawn out blink. Just like he had done when he wasn't able to otherwise communicate before. A simple blink of awareness was all it took for me to know exactly what he was thinking.

It had all been a ruse. No different than the show of insensitivity he had put on for Aro's apartment surveillance cameras.

I felt like a ridiculous moron for not catching onto his charade right away. Of course Edward would never go along with Carlisle's hideous plan.

"If we give you Charlize, will you at least calm down long enough to think about this rationally?" Edward finally asked me, thus making his plan crystal clear in my mind.

"All I want is to have her in my arms, and maybe I'd be willing to listen," I said evenly.

"Fine," Edward said with faux irritation. He walked over to where Carlisle was holding our daughter, and he casually reached for her… but that was when Carlisle caught on.

"I think she's doing just fine with me. If Bella isn't willing to cooperate then we can either chloroform her and lock her inside like before, or we can take this little angel and leave Bella here alone. It's your choice really."

Edward and Carlisle stared each other down challengingly, both treading water to see what the other was trying to pull. It was a standoff of the worst kind, and having my daughter in the middle of it was absolutely terrifying.

Because Edward had a lot more to lose in the situation, he broke first. "Just let me take the baby to her mother, and then we can all discuss this calmly."

Carlisle might not have been able to see it, but at that point I knew without a doubt that Edward was just as desperate to have Charlize back as I was.

Carlisle shook his head. "It's not that simple. If I just give her back to Bella, then what's to stop you from turning around and attacking me, or her from running off to call the police? As much as I would love to believe we could handle this civilly, I know that's probably not the case. I've known you for a long time, Edward, do you honestly expect me to believe you'd be willing to go against anything she said or wanted? Hell, I hired her because I was hoping she'd help us reign you in."

"What?" I asked, surprised by what he just said.

"I mean, really, the daughter of a former FBI agent, hired for a classified semi-illegal company? How dumb do you think we are? The reason why you were hired was because of your connection to Edward. We needed to find him a replacement leash for Heidi, and with our funds for the Cullens running low, we decided to search his past for anything that could help us. Lo and behold, there you were. The daughter of his former live in nurse, who just happened to be a new doctor and geneticist. It couldn't have been more perfect. We were also hoping for your loyalty if the Feds ever did get involved. You could secure Edward with us, as well as vouch for us with the government. It was almost too good to be true. If I believed in god, I would have sworn it was divine intervention."

"When she first showed up at KRO, I went to you, I told you that she and I had a history, but you shrugged it off. You told me it had nothing to do with your reasons for hiring her, and I believed you," Edward said while letting his feelings of betrayal break through.

"If I would have told you the truth then, you would have tried that much harder to stay away from her. You would have lashed out and it would have been the Heidi situation all over again, except a whole lot worse…. Edward, none of this really matters. Does my reason for hiring her change the way you feel about her? You have this beautiful child here because of it - a beautiful child which would have never existed if I didn't bring Bella to work for us. What else matters?"

"How about the fact that you only brought me in so you could ultimately sacrifice the Cullens and still keep control of him," I pointed out sourly. "You had a way to make them better; you chose not to give it to them."

"And the result of that medication wasn't worth the money they cost," he repeated. "Edward holds importance to our company. He has a brilliant mind and that reason alone made his medication worth every penny. Aro was right, the Cullens bring nothing to the table, so making them better would do nothing for us," he said heatedly.

"They are human beings!" I shouted again. "They have a right to live, and if you can make them better, they deserve that chance."

"Unfortunately, sometimes the only difference between curable and incurable diseases… is profitability. Cancer and AIDS treatments, along with the patients' imminent deaths, bring in a whole hell of a lot more money than real cures would, thus cures for such diseases have never been found… or, I should say, cures have never been widely distributed. The overwhelmingly rich don't die from such diseases. It's survival of the fittest."

"Is that what happened to your wife?" I asked him appalled. "She wasn't strong enough to beat her disease, or you weren't rich enough then to pay for the cure?"

He glared at me for a moment. "Both. Perhaps neither of us wanted it bad enough. Not like you anyway. You wanted a cure for Edward, so you fought for it, and now look where you are. Don't you see, Bella, that's the kind of mentality we need. Regardless of what drives us, it's the destination that matters."

"You're a heartless bastard," I said disgusted.

He narrowed his eyes at me, and they were filled with so much hate that they were almost painful to look into. He glanced back and forth between Edward and me, and then he shifted Charlize's weight in his arms.

"Edward, we need to go. I can see there's no convincing Bella, so here's how this is going to work; you and I will take this precious little girl with us, and Bella's going to stay here and live her life as if you were nothing ever more than Teddy Masen, that diseased boy she knew who died as a teenager."

"If I go with you and let you take Charlize, how do I know Bella is going to be safe here?" Edward asked evenly.

"You have my word."

"Your word doesn't mean shit to me!" Edward exploded unexpectedly. "You've been planning this entire thing with Aro from the beginning. It was the whole 'good cop, bad cop' thing. Wasn't it? You wanted me to think you were on my side, but this whole time, all you were doing was weaving a giant web of lies to trap me with you for the rest of my life!"

"Yes, I was playing the role of supportive father for you, but that ends now! You're an adult, and I don't need to sugar coat anything anymore. You belong to me, therefore, so does your offspring. You would be dead without me, and this baby would have never existed. You are both my creations, and I will not leave here without both of you. So, you can come with me willingly to Switzerland and let Bella keep her life, or I can kill her and then hold a gun to the child's head and force you to come with me anyway. You make the choice!"

Carlisle shifted Charlize in his arms again, except this time he managed to trade the syringe for a gun, which he pulled out of his pocket, and proceeded to point it at me.

"I didn't want it to come to this, but I will not stop now," Carlisle warned.

I could see Edward tense, then he turned to me and the fear in his eyes was stronger than I had ever seen there before, so he took another deep breath. "Bella, I swear, I will not let him hurt her," he said in a rush, then kissed my forehead. "And I'll find a way back," he said quietly so Carlisle couldn't hear.

"No," I whispered, trying to control my emotions long enough to come up with some kind of plan. I had already lost him too many times, and I couldn't do it again, especially with my daughter. We needed to find a way out of it, but I just didn't know how.

"Put the child down!" someone yelled suddenly from the doorway, making the three of us jump.

I turned around, and gasped. "Dad!"

"Bella?" Charlie said while staring at me like he was seeing a ghost. He was holding a gun at Carlisle, but his attention was on me, which gave Carlisle the opportunity to move his gun so that it was pointed at Charlize.

"You son of a bitch!" Edward shouted, which brought Charlie's attention back to Carlisle.

"Put the gun down now, or I will shoot you!" Dad warned strongly. Even with all the yelling going on around her, Charlize stayed calm and her eyes never left Edward. It was like as long as she could see her daddy, she knew everything was going to be fine, I only wished I was as confident as she seemed to be.

"Why, Officer Swan, you have been following me for what? A year now, at least. You have yet to catch me, and you never will. Even The Bureau stopped investigating us because there was nothing for them to find. But you couldn't let it go, could you?"

"What father could?" my dad said evenly.

"Like I told you when you had me cornered last time, I didn't kill your daughter. See? There she is, safe and sound."

"She certainly doesn't seem safe to me," Charlie replied coldly. "And the Bureau may not have found anything useful at KRO yet, but I definitely helped the Italian government find what they needed to shut you down. I know you had something to do with all those missing people and the bodies we found at KRO, and you will be held accountable."

"What bodies?" I asked, shaking and completely terrified. I just wanted my baby back in my arms, but the mention of bodies just added to the horror.

"I'm assuming the so called bodies you're referring to were nothing more than our cadavers," Carlisle said carelessly. "Legally donated for scientific research."

"Really? We contacted Bree Tanner's family, and she was definitely not donated."

I took in a sharp breath when I realized what my dad was saying - Bree was one of the bodies. I looked over at Edward, and he was absolutely fuming.

"Rachel Berkson, Heidi Campton, Monica Potter, and Jessica Stanely's families all had similar stories," my dad continued.

I gasped. "Oh my god. What the hell did Jessica do?" I screamed at Carlisle. Jessica was a lot of things, but she was also my friend, and hearing that she was killed was yet another hard blow.

"It was a tragic accident in a lab," Carlisle said remorselessly.

"Lying bastard!" I cried.

"You're right," Carlisle said sadistically. "The insane woman wouldn't leave your 'death' alone. Constantly asking questions and digging where she shouldn't have been…. And the fact that Aro was tired of fucking her."

I shook my head at him with tears streaming down my face. The moment my daughter didn't have a gun pointed at her anymore, I was seriously going to unload on him.

"You will be held accountable for all of it! I've already called in backup, and the moment they get here you'll get what's coming to you," my dad told him.

Carlisle suddenly became worried. "Officer Swan, it has been a pleasure seeing you again," he said in a rush while backing towards the door with my daughter still in his arms. "Edward, it's time to leave!"

"You will not leave this building. I'm going to tell you one more time, put the child down!" my dad yelled.

"Why Officer, I'm so sorry for not introducing you to my little hostage here. This is your granddaughter. Isn't she beautiful?"

My dad glanced at me, and the horrified expression on my face was proof enough for him that Carlisle was at least telling the truth about that.

"Edward, we're going now!" Carlisle said, but there was no way my father was going to let him just leave, especially with his newly discovered granddaughter.

My dad never met Edward before, and I never talked about him in any of my letters from KRO, but I'm sure it was obvious to him that he was my daughter's father. The two of them glanced at each other, and with no other options left, they charged Carlisle. I didn't even think, I just reacted and ran towards the scuffle as well.

Carlisle didn't have time to respond, or move out of the path of their attack. Edward jumped on his back and grabbed him in a choke hold, and my dad wrestled his arm for the gun, while I grabbed Charlize and immediately rushed her out of the lab to the safety of the outdoors.

"Are you okay, baby?" I asked in a panic as I looked her over and checked for injuries. She stayed quiet, but she grabbed onto me tightly in order to make herself feel secure. Her little body shivered as she held on to my hair and neck, so I wrapped her in my coat, and kept her pressed firmly to my chest.

And then there was a gunshot….

.

Then another….

.

I instinctually crouched down with Charlize in terror and to avoid any stray bullets, but my heart was in a panic from not knowing who got shot.

A couple long torturous moments later, my dad came running out of the lab, looking for me. "Bella?"

"Dad!" I stood, but collapsed in his arms as he wrapped them around Charlize and me.

"Oh Bella, thank god," he said with a broken voice. "I thought you were dead… All this time, I thought I lost you," he cried.

"I'm so sorry, dad," I said, crying with him. I quickly kissed Charlize on her head, then placed her in my father's arms. "Baby, this is your grandpa. He's not going to hurt you," I told her in a rush. I knew she couldn't really understand, but I had to tell her regardless. I kissed her again, and then ran back to the lab.

By then I was fairly certain that Carlisle was the one shot, otherwise my dad would still be going after him, but I needed to make sure Edward was ok anyway.

When I got inside, I saw Edward standing there frozen, looking down at Carlisle in a pool of blood at his feet.

"Oh my god," I whispered, before reflexively bending over to see if there was anything I could do to help. It didn't matter that I considered him a monster, he was still a person, and I'd rather have him spend the rest of his life in jail than dead.

"Don't. There's nothing to be done. He's gone," Edward said impassively. The expression on his face was a mix of relief and grief. Grief for Bree and the others we just learned who died, or grief for the man he once considered his father? I wasn't quite sure; perhaps it was a little of both. "Are you okay? How's Charlize?" Edward then asked me.

"We're both okay," I assured him while wrapping my arms around his waist. "We're all okay," I added quietly.

I glanced out the door and saw Charlie bouncing Charlize in his arms while talking to someone on his mobile phone, assumedly reporting what just happened, and then he walked back inside to where we were.

"Are either of you hurt?" he asked us as he handed Charlize back to me, and hugged me tightly as he did so. "Bella, I still can't believe you're safe… I missed you like crazy."

"I missed you too," I said emotionally. "Have you really been chasing Carlisle all this time?"

"I knew he was responsible for… whatever happened to you, and I wasn't going to stop until I could prove it." He hugged me again, and then pulled back to look at me once more. "And look at you. You're alive… and a momma now. What happened? Why did they say you were dead, and why was he threatening you just now?"

I began telling him the whole story, but then about a dozen different law enforcement vehicles and emergency personnel started arriving on the scene. After the police declared the area secure, I reached back for Edward, and he kissed my temple before kissing the top of Charlize's head, and then we watched in a heavy silence as the coroner loaded up Carlisle and took him away.

"So what happens now?" I asked my dad when he walked back over to us afterwards. He had been talking to some detectives, and it looked intense, which had me worried.

"I'm sorry, kid, but they need both of you to go down to the local precinct for questioning. I tried to get you out of it, but they're insisting."

I nodded. "Let me just call Liza to come pick up Charlize."

Being brought in for questioning was pretty much standard procedure after someone being killed the way Carlisle was, so I didn't think much of it. Edward and I were separated and each had to tell our version of the events that lead to the shooting, however, after an hour or so, I was released to go home… but Edward was not.

"Why does he have to stay longer?" I asked my dad after he got clearance to take me home.

"From what I gathered, he's pretty deeply involved with everything that went down at KRO. A lot of families are looking for justice for their loved one's deaths, and this incident just blew the case wide open again," Charlie explained.

My stomach dropped. "Like, he could go to jail?" I asked, realizing that was actually a very real possibility. Edward wasn't naïve to the fact that they were doing so much illegal work at KRO; he was a part of it, and there was a time when he defended it to me, including the lives lost. It was the only time I questioned my feelings for him.

It was a terrifying thought. We had come so far, and worked too hard to have it all crash down on us like that.

"Right now, they just have questions for him," Charlie told me, clearly sensing my panic. "Its been a long battle to try to get some real solid evidence on KRO to stick. So many questionable things have happened there over the past several years. I wish I had known more about all this before you went to work there. I would have never let you go."

I sighed. "I hate KRO and the terrible things they have done, but I don't regret going there for even a second. I never would have found Edward, and I wouldn't have Charlize…" I shook my head at the thought.

The most important parts of my life came as a result of KRO's illegal experiments. It was horrible, and yet, I'd never regret any of it. Edward did what he thought was right. He had been punished enough by being sick. The prison he was in from his disease was far worse than any real incarceration they could ever inflict on him. He just got his freedom for really the first time in his life. They just had to let him go. I didn't know if I could survive losing him again.

I didn't want to leave the station without Edward, but Charlie said it could be a while longer, so I figured I should get back to Charlize for a bit.

On our way back to the Masen's, I told my dad about everything that happened. He had never known Edward as Teddy personally, but I did mention him quite a bit in my letters and phone calls to him as a kid, so he had an idea of who he was. Charlie was absolutely astonished by my story, and just like I expected, he believed me without question, and promised to do whatever he could to help Edward.

I said good bye to Charlie, then was met by a panicked Liza at the front door of the Masen house.

"What's going on? Why isn't Edward with you? Is he okay?"

Liza already knew what had happened because we had told her when we dropped off Charlize on our way to the precinct, but like me, she thought we'd just have to answer a couple questions and then be released. When I told her Edward might be in trouble, her concern escalated ten fold, and she immediately called her lawyer.

We sat and anxiously watched the hours tick by without any news, and then finally we received the call that we could pick him up. Liza wanted to go with me, but after such a long, emotionally draining day, I really needed a few moments alone with him first.

I expected to see Edward waiting for me in the lobby, but I didn't see him anywhere. I did see Charlie again though.

"Hey. Where is he?" I asked impatiently.

"Sorry, sweetheart. They may have called you a little prematurely. He's officially released, but he's still looking over some things."

"Ok, since he's released, can I see him?"

Charlie looked around to see if anyone was paying attention, and then he nodded. "Come with me. I probably shouldn't be taking you in here since there's some evidence out, but… Its my evidence so I say you can be in there."

"Your evidence?" I questioned confused.

"Well, I acquired them while I was in Italy. The government there wanted to keep them but I promised I'd find Carlisle and use this evidence to bring him to justice… along with Dr. Aro and Dr. Keller, of course. They were pretty much all we had to go on."

I wasn't sure what exactly my father was talking about, but we had arrived at a door where I assumed Edward was, so he reached for the handle and opened it.

"Oh, Babe," I said full of relief, the moment I saw him. He was sitting at a table, with what looked like dozens of cards of some sort sprawled out all over.

He looked up at me. "Hey," he said lovingly, but he looked absolutely exhausted. "What are you doing back here?"

I lowered myself into his lap and kissed his lips before hugging myself as tightly against him as possible. "I came to pick you up," I told him. "What is all of this?"

He sighed. "KRO ID cards. Apparently when they shut down the company, they found these. They're all the IDs of people who went missing after working there. They asked me to tell them anything I know about them."

"Where's the lawyer Liza sent?" I asked absently as I began looking through the cards as well.

"He got me released, and then he left. I don't have to stay here and look over these, but I thought I should." He sighed again. "Unfortunately, I only know a few of them."

"So, you're not in trouble?" I asked as I noticed Jessica's ID amongst the pile, and couldn't help but pick it up.

Edward pressed his lips together, and then huffed. "The lawyer struck an agreement with the district attorney to have me testify against Aro and Keller for my amnesty. Carmen and Amun were here a little while ago too, and made the same deals. They don't have any evidence against us anyway, and with our testimony, especially mine since I worked with them the longest… along with the bodies and these ID cards, they think they may be able to prosecute them."

"But that's just here in the US, right? What about the Italian case against them? Will you have amnesty there too?" I asked concerned.

"I'm not exactly sure how it all works, but I think both countries are working together on this. It was an American company based in Italy, but most victims were American as well, so?" He shrugged. "Doesn't really matter either way for me. I'm just a victim, so I'll be fine," he said bitterly.

"Edward, you are a victim," I told him, since it was obvious he disagreed with that sentiment. "You went into it not knowing what you were really doing. And its not like you had a choice either. You were dependent on the medication they made there."

He picked up a particular ID card off the table and stared at it for a few moments. "I knew what I was doing," he murmured regretfully. I looked down at the card in his hand, and saw it was Bree's. She had a different card than the rest, it looked just like the ones the Cullens had.

I kissed his hair. "You gave her more than she ever had before," I tried reassuring him. "You were just trying to give her a life. She never even had a chance before you."

He shook his head, but didn't try arguing anymore. He just kept looking through the cards, and I looked back at Jessica's card, which I was still holding. In a way, it almost felt like we were looking at the military dog tags of fallen soldiers. Each and every one of them had fought a battle against KRO, and lost. It was extremely difficult, and yet, also made me grateful. We didn't lose our own battle, and we would now ultimately win the war. Edward wasn't going to go to jail, and we would see that Aro and Keller were brought to justice and that no one would ever suffer under their hands again.

I leaned forward to set Jessica's card back onto the table, when suddenly a different card caught my attention. "Heidi Campton," I read out loud, recognizing the name. The picture of the blonde on the card seemed to be looking back at me; her steel blue eyes were mysterious, and left me in wonder. "She was beautiful," I told Edward. He looked at the card, and once again sighed. "I'm sorry," I whispered. "I know you loved her at one time."

He took it from me gently, and stared at it for a moment. "I think when you love someone… you never fully lose that. If it ended poorly, you have this intense hate… or sadness… that never fully goes away," he said before placing the card back into the pile with Bree's, and Jessica's, and all the others.

"I can see how that would be true," I agreed with Edward. Having never really loved anyone I lost in any way before, I couldn't relate personally, but I could see the pain in his eyes as he spoke.

"I don't feel anything anymore for Heidi," he said assuredly. "Not anger, or sorrow. I regret she was killed, but that's it…. But," he let his words trail off.

"But what?" I asked, not wanting him to close himself off of whatever he was feeling.

He took a deep breath. "But I think I'm going to be angry with Carlisle for the rest of my life. When I saw him holding Charlize with that syringe… and then he had the gun pointed at you… I've never been more scared in my entire life."

I rubbed the back of his neck tenderly. "I know, me too."

"Bella, I trusted him." He scooted me off his lap so he could stand, and then he began pacing the room. "Up until that moment when I saw that syringe in his hand, deep down I was still hoping there was something - a reason why he switched my pills and said all those horrible things in Florida. Like, maybe Aro was making him do it somehow…. How could he do that to me? I just… I still just don't understand it… Now he's dead… and I'm happy he's dead. I'm just so… so angry."

"You loved him."

He nodded, and then he erupted. "Damn it! What was the fucking point to any of it?" he shouted while shoving half the cards off the table. "All these people. Reduced to nothing more than laminated pictures on a police table. Its fucking sickening, and I can't believe I had any part of it!"

"Its okay," I tried comforting him, but he didn't want the comfort.

"No, its not okay! It'll never been okay for any of these people again."

"Edward, most of these people were employees of KRO, not the patients you worked on. You had nothing to do with their deaths."

He locked eyes with me, and deadpanned - "Didn't I?"

I stared back at him just as intense. "No, you didn't. You were only trying to help the patients there. You didn't take part in killing employees."

"I got you killed… for a while at least."

I rolled my eyes. "Edward, come on."

"Heidi was killed because of me," he argued. "So was Jessica Stanley."

"You weren't even there when Jessica was murdered," I contradicted.

"No, but she was killed as a direct result of my actions. I got your life taken from you at KRO, and she died because she wouldn't accept your death."

I shook my head. "Edward, stop. I was the one who went down to the special division building when I wasn't supposed to. You asked that I stay away, and I didn't. If anyone is to blame, besides her actual murderers, its me."

"I should have made you leave when I first saw you on the KRO compound. I should have made everyone leave."

"I understand why you're upset, but blaming yourself isn't going to accomplish anything. All that really matters now, is that we work with the authorities to bring Aro and Keller to justice. They are the ones responsible for all this. If you want to make up for whatever part you had in all this, give the judge your testimony, and then find a way to properly help the Cullen's and others like them. Do what KRO was supposed to do, but do it the right way. If anyone can figure out how to find cures for people like them, its you."

He thought about it for a few moments, and then he sighed. "You're right... Lets go home so we can get an early start in the morning."

We walked out of the room hand in hand, but when Edward saw my dad, he pulled me to a stop. "Hey Charlie, do you have those papers?"

"Sure thing. Just came out of the copier," my dad replied before handing him a manila folder. "Go home and get some rest, you two." He leaned in to hug me goodbye. "I'll talk to you tomorrow sometime."

"Okay. Goodnight, dad," I said before looking over at the folder in Edward's hand. "What's that?"

Edward lead me out of the building, and once we got into the car, he explained. "It's a copy of the documents Carlisle had with him. Charlie let me looked at them earlier. Technically, I shouldn't be allowed to even look at these, let alone have a copy of them, but… Your dad is awesome, by the way."

"Yeah, I know. So what kind of documents are they?"

"Cures," he stated unexpectedly. "Well, not really cures. They're my formulas for the Cullen's enzymes… and their immunity blockers."

"So, Carlisle was telling the truth about that? We really can make the enzymes so they can take them full time like you were doing with yours?" I asked full of hope.

"We could have long before now. That bastard lied to me. I had it right all along. They kept them sick on purpose."

"Are you sure it'll work?" I asked as I glanced over the formulas on the first page.

"We sure as hell are going to find out."


	21. Life

_Life_

 **One year later...**

"Bella, if you don't hurry up, things are going to get really ugly," my mom warned me from outside the bathroom door.

"I'm trying!" yelled back, a little more snappy than I intended.

"Oop, too late," I heard Renée say, and I knew exactly what she meant.

"Isabella Swan! You get your pretty butt out here before I have Emmett break down the door!" Alice yelled. "And you better not be taking off any of that makeup I put on you," she warned.

"Ok, ok, I'm ready," I said and opened the door slowly.

"Oh, Bella, you look…" Renée couldn't finish, she just started crying, unable to talk.

"Thanks," I said, trying to console her. It was my wedding day, and there I was, in my classic position of trying to console my mother. I guess some things never changed.

"Come on, Bella, I know you weren't in there pooping, so come clean. What did you take off?" Alice asked me accusingly.

"Nothing," I said, but she glared at me. "Okay, just a little foundation. It was caked on and making me feel itchy. Besides, you couldn't even tell," I defended myself.

She stared at me for a moment, and then sighed. "Okay, you're still beautiful. Let's go get you married."

My dad was outside the room waiting to walk me down the aisle, and when I approached him, he grabbed my hand and wove it through his arm. "Ready?"

"Definitely," I said without hesitation.

We stepped into the tiny elevator and my dad pulled the lever, so with a jolt we went up. When we got to the top, the door opened and I couldn't help but embarrassingly smile as all our family and friends stood and looked at me.

The roof garden never looked more beautiful than it did in that moment, but perhaps it had nothing to do with the flowers. As I began walking towards Edward, I could see Emmett out of the corner of my eye, and he was wearing the cheesiest grin I had ever seen. I locked eyes with each of the Cullens for a moment, and couldn't help but feel proud. Proud of how far they had come, proud of us for being able to help them, and just proud to have all them in our family.

…

 _After my talk with Edward at the police station, he thankfully decided he wasn't going to waste any more time with being angry. He may never fully recover from the pain of Carlisle's betrayal, but he sure as hell wasn't going to let it be in the forefront of his life or even his thoughts for a moment longer._

 _We immediately got to work on the enzymes, and put them into pill form so they could be taken every day. Once again, we were blessed. Our family was reunited and finally complete once and for all. It wasn't a real cure like Edward received from the stem cells, but it allowed them to lead normal, fulfilled lives._

 _When they were first brought back into awareness, it took a while for them to rehabilitate and adjust to their new lives. Other than their brief excursions, they had only ever really known the KRO compound, and losing Carlisle was a tough blow to each of them as well. Edward and I thought about not telling them the truth about his betrayal – he was dead, so perhaps keeping their memory of their father figure positive wouldn't be such a bad thing, however we ultimately decided to disclose everything. They weren't children, and they deserved to know what really happened. Of course they were all hurt, but like Edward, they decided their new lease on life was a gift they weren't willing to tarnish with anger._

 _We told them they could do whatever they wanted, go wherever, be whoever, but surprisingly, they all just wanted to go home. So, as soon as their physical therapy was complete, we took them back to Italy…. and one week after that, they were over it and ready to move back to Arizona._

 _We all lived in Phoenix together in a big seven bedroom house. We continued to legally research and do experiments to find cures for various diseases, but Edward and I also worked for a living at the hospital with Dr. El. It was great working with real patients, and it allowed us to earn money while doing what we loved._

 _The Cullens actually all got jobs as well. Rosalie volunteered at the hospital working with the children, Emmett followed my dad around the Phoenix police station, where he transferred to from Forks, and Alice opened a little boutique with my mother._

 _Jasper's parents finally came and visited him. They were beyond grateful, and as a thank you for helping their son, they offered to continue to fund our lab indefinitely so that others may possibly find cures for their loved ones as well. Jasper was friendly to his parents and wanted to keep in touch, but his life was with Alice, so he had no desire to move to Texas the way his father had hoped. Jazz spent his days painting, and he even sold a few for a rather large sum. He just loved color and nature, so any normal job would have been too confining for him._

 _Aro and Keller were arrested, and the KRO property was reconstructed into a large school of research, owned and operated by the Italian government. But as a special thank you for removing the 'corrupt company', as the officials called it, they promised to keep Edward's garden intact, and that's where we decided to get married. So much negative happened at that compound, but so much greatness happened there as well, and that garden was a perfect representation of those miracles._

…

After seeing all the Cullen's, I noticed Edward's parents sitting with my mother and Angela in the front row. Carmen was behind them, holding hands with Dr. El, and next to them were Kate, Garrett, and Amun. We left empty spots for Bree and Jessica, and although we'd always miss them, it was a happy day and we weren't going to let anything get in the way of that.

Last, and most importantly, at the end of the aisle, I saw Edward, who had the biggest smile I had ever seen on him.

 _God, he was beautiful._

Every tme I looked at him he just took my breath away, and that day was no different. I couldnt even tell what he was wearing because it was hard to peel my eyes off of his perfect face, and when I finally managed to do so, I saw our daughter.

Charlize was supposed to be the flower girl, but she was still such a daddy's girl that she refused to leave his side. He had been holding her, but when I got closer, he put her down so she clung to his leg.

Edward took my hands, and as the minister began the ceremony, everyone else disappeared. In that moment, it was just Edward and me…. and Charlize, of course, alone in our love. Everything we had been through to get there – every tear shed, every trying moment, every battle we lost - it had all been worth it.

I wasn't just marrying my best friend and father of my child, I was marrying my soul. He and I were always meant to be together. Even as children, when it seemed impossible because of the disease that separated us, he was always where my heart lived.

Whether miracles were gifts from god, or scientific anomalies, it didn't really matter. I was grateful, and I'd never take any of it for granted. With all of the world's questions and uncertainties, there was one thing I was absolutely sure of - _Life, was the greatest miracle of all._

.

*** **A/N: This story is now complete, but I may post additional scenes or outtakes in the future so please follow me if you haven't already. Thank you!**


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